Virgin Money launches ‘Pay As You Go’ card

Virgin Money has launched a new pre-paid card called Pay As You Go.

The new card has a range of benefits and is ideally suited to people who don’t have access to traditional banking facilities. In particular, migrant workers who use pre-pay cards to send money to their families at home will make substantial savings compared to the cards already available.

The Virgin Pay As You Go card also gives users access to a range of point of sale discounts from across the Virgin group. Previously these discounts have only been available to customers using a Virgin Credit Card so from now on many more people will be able to benefit from great deals on selected Virgin goods and services. The discounts currently available include:

10% off at Virgin Megastores
10% off Virgin Holidays
10% off Virgin Wines (for over 18s!)
75% off Virgin Active’s joining fee
10% off Virgin Car, Home, Pet and Annual Travel insurance

The Virgin Pay As You Go card works just like a pay as you go mobile phone and can be topped up with money at Post Offices, PayPoint outlets across the country and online at virginmoney.com/pay-as-you-go*. Once loaded, the card can be used to shop online or on the high street, wherever MasterCard is accepted, and to withdraw cash at ATMs worldwide.**

The card provides a way for users to benefit from all of the advantages of plastic payments like PIN protection but without the need to set up a bank account. Parents can give a Pay As You Go card to their children, aged 13 and over, to load with their pocket money and keep an eye on where they’re spending it with online statements. Travellers can take the card abroad and benefit from the increased security and safety of transacting with plastic instead of cash. What’s more there are no late fees, no credit checks and no interest charges.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia Chief Executive of Virgin Money said: ‘I am delighted to be able to offer the Virgin Pay As You Go Card. Almost three million adults in the UK do not use banking facilities and are locked in the cash economy. This card will allow users to buy on the internet, on the high street, and save money on a range of Virgin products.’

The Virgin Pay As You Go card is ideal for:

excellent point of sale discounts across the Virgin Group.
foreign remittance – Virgin offer a flat 3.5% fee, saving a massive £18.25 when compared to a one-off payment of £250 to Eastern Europe with Western Union
access to internet, telephone and mail order purchases.
keeping your cash safe - can be protected by PIN and blocked if lost or stolen
people with poor or no credit history.
people who want to closely manage their budget – there’s no danger of going overdrawn.
pocket money for children aged 13 – 18. Their spending can be viewed online.
travelling abroad without the need to carry cash or traveller’s cheques. The Pay As You Go card offers security as it can be blocked if lost or stolen.

Ms Gadhia added: ‘For people who send money from the UK to friends and family abroad the card offers a great financial incentive. £250 sent to Poland each month would cost a Western Union customer £324 in charges over the course of a year. For a Virgin Pay-As-You-Go customer charges would be just £105 over the year which is a massive £219 saving.”

*Free loading at the Post Office and Online. 2.75% load fee at Pay Point. 2.5% Credit Card load fee

**Cash withdrawals can only be made on an unrestricted card