Sainsbury’s is changing the terms of its Nectar card in Scotland so shoppers spending under £50 will now earn just one point per pound rather than two.

An incremental scale has been introduced to reward shoppers with extra points for spending more, up to a maximum of four points per pound for baskets costing over £150. The new scale means that while shoppers spending under £50 will see their points slashed in half, those spending between £50 and £99.99 will get the same as they did before with two points per pound, and baskets costing between £100 and £149.99 will earn three per pound. Shoppers splashing out on baskets of goods costing more than £150 will earn four points per pound.

“I guess they are trying to get people to do one big shop rather than turn up for loads of micro shops,” said one critical shopper.

Sainsbury’s confirmed the 12-month trial in Scotland but said there were no plans as yet to introduce it across the UK.

“We want to gauge how this grading system works. The new tiers also mean that customers can potentially earn more points than ever according to their total spend,” said a spokeswoman.