BA closes the Avios-earning British Airways Prepaid Mastercard

In 2022 British Airways launched a Prepaid Mastercard. It was designed to allow fee-free foreign currency spending, but could also be used in the UK for day-to-day spend.

A lot of HfP readers took it out, because we had an exclusive 3,000 Avios sign-up bonus available.

The ability to load the card was suspended last year due to various functionality issues. It has now been killed off entirely.

According to an email sent out yesterday:

We regret to inform you that the British Airways Prepaid Mastercard programme is closing on 22 April 2024. Please see below for further details and dates.

What does this mean for you?

Until 21 April 2024
You can spend the balance on your card. For information regarding topping up your card, please check the British Airways Executive Club Rewards app. You have until this date to submit any missing Avios claims. 

22 April 2024 onwards
Your card will automatically close on 22 April 2024. From this date, you will not be able to access your card or outstanding balance on the British Airways Executive Club Rewards App. If there are any funds remaining on your British Airways Prepaid Mastercard you will be able to request these funds back. 

How do you get your money back?

Up to 22nd April, you can request your money by webchat or phone. Note that:

As a gesture of goodwill, we will not charge you the £5 fee for any funds you want to redeem by 21 April 2024.

• Card number
• Proof of ID
• Proof of address
• Details of the bank account you wish the funds to be sent to
• A scanned copy of your bank statement dated in the last 3 months with all four corners visible

You WILL be charged a £5 fee for getting your money back if you request if after 22nd April. Also:

Your card issuer may charge you an additional fee of £20 which will be deducted from your Available balance.

Suffice it to say, if you have a Prepaid Mastercard, ensure you cancel it BEFORE 22nd April.

What was the British Airways Prepaid Mastercard?

Long-term readers may remember that Avios used to have a prepaid travel money card in the past. This new card was an attempt to launch a next generation product which could be used via a smarphone.

The key points were:

• It was NOT a credit card – it was a prepaid card
• You had to preload your card before you could spend on it
• There were no credit checks when applying, because you were not being given any credit
• The card was managed via the British Airways Executive Club Rewards app
• There were no foreign exchange fees when spending in $ and € although there are loading limits

How many Avios did you earn on the card?

It was very simple. You earned 1 Avios for every £2, €2 or $2 of eligible purchases you made.

How did the card work?

Your British Airways Prepaid Mastercard was linked to your UK current account debit card. You topped it up in Sterling via the British Airways Executive Club Rewards app.

When travelling abroad, you had two options:

• you could move funds from the Sterling ‘wallet’ on your card into either the Euro or Dollar wallets, or
• you could keep your funds in the Sterling ‘Wallet’ with transactions being charged at the Mastercard exchange rate + 1.5%

Wasn’t this too good to be true?

You may think that this all sounds too good to be true.

After all, you earned 1 Avios for every £2 / €2 / $2 you spent and there were no FX fees on your € or $ spending. Where was the catch?

If you spent in £ in the UK:

There was no catch. You loaded the card in Sterling, you spent in Sterling and you earned 1 Avios for every £2 you spent.

If you didn’t qualify for the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard, this was a great way to earn Avios on your Sterling spending.

The card was only meant to be free for six months (£2.99 per month thereafter) but due to the issues with card functionality I don’t think anyone ever paid.

If you spent in $ or € outside the UK:

When you moved money from your £ ‘wallet’ to your $ or € wallet, the exchange rate was not great.

Whilst transactions made in € or $ were FX-free themselves, you were still paying roughly 3% to move your ‘wallet’ currency out of Sterling in the first place.

This was taking a very liberal definition of ‘no FX fees’.

If you spent in other currencies:

There was a 1.5% FX fee for transactions in currencies apart from Euro and US$.

Oddly, because these transactions worked off the Mastercard exchange rate – which is only slightly away from the interbank rate – the fees were lower at around 2% all-in than spending in $ or €.

Conclusion

In truth, despite the integration into the Executive Club app, the British Airways Prepaid Mastercard always seemed like an attempt to breath life into a concept which was past its prime 15 years ago.

Revolut, Monzo and the like did a great job educating the British public about the foreign exchange fees charged on credit cards, and how they could be avoided. The Prepaid Mastercard was claiming to have no FX fees at the point of purchase (true) but was hitting you with a big loading fee when you moved £ into $ or €.

If the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit cards hadn’t launched, this would have been a great product for UK spending at places where American Express is not accepted. Unfortunately, with the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard offering 1 Avios per £1, there was no point in using a Prepaid Mastercard paying 0.5 Avios per £1.

There IS still a gap in the market for an Avios-earning payment card which genuinely has no FX fees. Will anyone step up and launch one?

You can find out more about the closure of the British Airways Prepaid Mastercard on ba.com here.

PS. If you have a Limited Company, there IS an Avios-earning credit card you can get with no FX fees. Click here for details of the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card and our special 10,500 Avios-equivalent sign-up bonus.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous 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.

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

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.