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Nationwide to buy Virgin Money – what happens to the Virgin Atlantic credit cards?

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As you may have seen in the national news, Nationwide Building Society has made a £2.9 billion bid to buy Virgin Money.

Virgin Money is currently the sixth largest bank in the UK, having hoovered up Northern Rock and, via reverse takeover, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank in the last 12 years.

Integration has been poor though – even logging in to the website requires you to first select from 10 product categories and then, if you click ‘Savings’, choosing from three different options depending on your sort code.

Nationwide to buy Virgin Money

Obviously the key issue for HfP readers is the future of the two Virgin Money-issued Virgin Atlantic credit cards. My understanding is that these are run via a dedicated joint venture, which is likely to have ‘change of control’ provisions in it.

Nationwide has never been a big player in credit cards – which is sensible, given that it is a mutually owned business and credit cards are higher risk products than mortgages or personal loans. It currently offers just one credit card, and you cannot apply for it unless you hold another Nationwide product.

I suspect that the Virgin Money credit card book, which has caused the company problems in the past due to bad debts, will soon be on the market.


How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (February 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points

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