Virgin Australia unveils pre-paid travel money card

Airline Virgin Australia has teamed up with Visa to add a pre-paid travel money card that can be loaded with multiple currencies to its frequent flyer membership scheme.

The Oz airline's Global Wallet will let its Velocity Frequent Flyer members load funds onto their card and store it in multiple foreign currencies as well as Australian dollars.

Travellers can use the contactless card at 30 million Visa locations around the world and withdraw cash at two million ATMs, with any purchases earning Velocity frequent flyer points.

Neil Thompson, CEO, Velocity Frequent Flyer, says: "We are delighted to unveil the Global Wallet in partnership with Visa. This new prepaid innovation encapsulates Velocity Frequent Flyer's proposition as a multi-faceted program that pushes traditional boundaries."

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Comments: (2)

A Finextra member 19 April, 2013, 12:36

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Would you trust an airline company with your deposits? What if it goes belly-up? Does Visa pay me back since airlines do not have deposit protection guarantees from the government? And what if I also paid for my airline ticket through the airline Visa? Does the belly-up airline provide me with "services not rendered guarantee" protection and refund of airfare?

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A Finextra member 22 April, 2013, 14:50

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Well of course, Virgin are doing nothing more than put their logo on a standard Visa Card, and market it to their customer base as a Virgin card in return for a share in the transaction fees.

So yes, your money is in the (safe?) hands of Visa, in the event that 'Virgin goes belly up' so to speak.