Netspend has partnered with United Airlines to launch a prepaid card which will earn United miles on qualifying purchases. The MileagePlus GO Visa Prepaid Card is set to launch this summer. The card is issued by Republic Bank & Trust Company and is FDIC insured.
The press release only says that the card will “earn miles for qualifying purchases,” without specifying the exact earn amount. It’s improbable that the card will offer rewards better than the Chase United card, though I guess the prepaid card can be better for someone allergic to annual fees. (See also this post.) At best, they’ll offer one mile per dollar spent – if I had to guess I’d say it’ll be 1 mile per two dollars. If it does offer one mile per dollar, it could be an intriguing alternative to the Chase card.
The main angle of this prepaid card will be if the card will earn miles on PIN-based purchases, but more likely it’ll exclude that. Also interesting would be if they have other sorts of promos, like 1,000 bonus miles for signing up, 500 bonus miles for making your first purchase, etc.
We shall see.
Hat tip to OMAATÂ
