MBNA adding cashback rewards to its credit cards

Many HfP readers have an MBNA credit card, primarily the (not available to the general public) Horizon card:

For the benefit of new readers, MBNA used to dominate the ‘air miles’ credit card market in the UK. At its peak, it issued cards for:

• American
• bmi British Midland (many versions!)
• Emirates (x 2 versions)
• Etihad
• Lufthansa
• United
• Virgin Atlantic (x 2 versions)

With the introduction of the cap on interchange fees, MBNA decided to withdraw from the affinity market and put itself up for sale, eventually being purchased by Lloyds Bank.

Most people who held one of these cards were offered something called the Horizon card. This is, frankly, an amazingly good piece of plastic:

• It’s a Visa card
• which gives 0.5% cashback
• and which has no foreign exchange fees

You don’t earn any points, but for non-UK spending it is a great product.

MBNA is now introducing Amex-style cashback rewards

MBNA is about to launch ‘Smart Rewards’. There is a holding page here on their website and a FAQ here.

All cardholders will see potential ‘Smart Rewards’ offers as long as they are registered for online card servicing.

As with Amex, you need to manually opt in to each offer that you think may interest you.

Cashback will be added to your card balance once per month. You will be able to see ‘pending’ payments online so you will know that an offer has successfully triggered.

The companies shown as typical of the partners who will be involved are:

• Co-Op
• LNER trains
• Hilton
• Costa Coffee

To quote:

If you’d like shopping to be a little more rewarding, MBNA Smart Rewards could be the perfect fit:

• Browse available offers and pick out the ones which suit you best.
• Keep track of the cashback you’ve earned in the Smart Rewards hub.
• Coming to Online Card Services soon, and launching on our app in early 2021.

It’s the cherry on top of that ice cream sundae… an extra banana in the bunch. Up to 15% cashback on the things you buy regularly soon adds up, but you might also be inspired to try something new.

At present, we don’t know any more. It is good to see Lloyds Bank extending this scheme, which is already available via some of its other brands, to MBNA.

The key point at present is that, if you were thinking of cancelling a legacy MBNA credit card for any reason, you may want to hold on.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – March 2023 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Successfully apply for either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards by 2nd April 2023 and you will be entered into a free draw to win ONE MILLION AVIOS! Full details are on the application forms here (free) and here (paid). This competition is exclusive to Head for Points readers. T&C apply.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

Until 30th March 2023, the sign up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to 120,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. The bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. T&C apply, see the application forms for details.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.