Just for clarification, it's not a pack that you need to open. It's an item that you need to redeem from the inbox.
I remember vaguely that there was some kind of an issue that led to this change, but I can't seem to find any information on it.
Anyway, I don't think is anywhere near the biggest issues in the game, but I agree that it would be nice if we got the coins right way when we redeem them in the objectives screen instead of having to go to the inbox. And I believe that's how it is intended to be as that's how it was earlier in the year and also in previous years as you said.
EA_Aljo Do you have any information on this issue?