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I’ve got the Virgin Atlantic Premium+ (or whatever the fee bearing card is called) credit card.
Recently there was possible attempted fraud on it, so (after a lot of faffing on their part) they blocked my original card & issued a new one.
2 weeks on it hadn’t arrived so I call to let them know & they block that one & issue another new one which has just arrived.
However it’s just branded as a plain Virgin Money credit card.
Is something happening at Virgin Money we don’t know about?
Just to add: since getting the new card I’ve gone into the app to check my progress towards my reward. It’s reset to £0 even though I’ve already earnt a voucher in the current member year – any knowledge if another will be credited if I breach £10k spend again?
Everything is in the air at the moment. Virgin Money is being taken over by Nationwide, an acquisition due to complete in the autumn. The VM name will eventually disappear and the Virgin Atlantic cards will almost certainly need to find a new provider as rewards cards don’t really fit into the Nationwide strategy. Not sure that really explains the new look card, but could be connected.
@JDB love the everything is up in the air pun
My Virgin card is also plain red. I’ve got it a few years ago. Rang them to double check and, surely, it was indeed an Atlantic card. Odd but true.
Bizarre but good to know @can2
Just makes it a bit harder to ID in my wallet/virtual wallet.Got a new one in the post within the last week and it was the normal branding
Recently had the same issue with fraud and replacement card was normal Virgin Atlantic branding.
Everything is in the air at the moment. Virgin Money is being taken over by Nationwide, an acquisition due to complete in the autumn. The VM name will eventually disappear and the Virgin Atlantic cards will almost certainly need to find a new provider as rewards cards don’t really fit into the Nationwide strategy. Not sure that really explains the new look card, but could be connected.
The VM name will indeed be dropped but not everything will be absorbed in to Nationwide. All the indications are the business banking and investments will remain with Clydesdale Bank plc, even after the integration period concludes. One possibility is that credit cards remain with the bank subsidiary – perhaps with movement of Nationwide’s own offering moving the opposite direction to other personal accounts.
The takeover announcements made specific mention of the intention to enter in to negotiations with Virgin Red regarding points issuance – that could of course mean a negotiated exit, but who knows.
Another possibility is that another company purchases the credit card portfolio. Branson will no doubt be shopping his Virgin Money brand about for another venture as soon as he can, as he did with Virgin Trains.
The integration period is currently set to run until the end of 2030 – which is a long old time in the context of a cobranded/JV credit card offering. It could well be that there’s a natural exit point all parties can coalesce around.
I think it’s a dead certainty that Nationwide will sell on the credit card portfolio as soon as it can. The only thing they’re really interested in is the mortgage lending book because it instantly propels them to the 2nd largest mortgage lender in the UK behind Lloyds Banking Group.
I think it’s a dead certainty that Nationwide will sell on the credit card portfolio as soon as it can. The only thing they’re really interested in is the mortgage lending book because it instantly propels them to the 2nd largest mortgage lender in the UK behind Lloyds Banking Group.
I’m not sure what you’re basing this upon. They’ve widely communicated that the substantial business banking customer book was a motivating factor, and that’s consistent with their long-held ambition to get a hold in this market; most recently with a partnership with Mastercard which ran aground during Covid.
They haven’t said much about the credit cards, so it could well be that they’re off to market – although everytime I’ve had cause to visit Nationwide recently they’ve tried to get me to take their (rewardless) Member credit card, so there’s clearly some drive to build this side of their operation. Either way it’s certainly not correct to suggest this is really only about the mortgagebook.
It’s mainly about the mortgage book, I can assure you. That’s where they really want to make their mark and buying the 6th largest mortgage book in the UK allows them to do that. There’s not much profit in credit cards these days compared to secured loans and mortgages. I have no idea what profit is in business banking, but I’m sure that Virgin Money are nowhere near one of the largest players in that market place anyway.
…and flogging credit cards to existing customers only doesn’t sound like ‘drive to build this side of their operation’ to me. Its more sound business sense. Don’t give your existing valuable customers an excuse to go wondering off to a competitor. Keep them in house.
So now isn’t a good time to be taking out a virgin credit card ?
It’s mainly about the mortgage book, I can assure you. That’s where they really want to make their mark and buying the 6th largest mortgage book in the UK allows them to do that. There’s not much profit in credit cards these days compared to secured loans and mortgages. I have no idea what profit is in business banking, but I’m sure that Virgin Money are nowhere near one of the largest players in that market place anyway.
You’ve already shifted to ‘mainly’, which is a different argument to the original one you presented. I’ve no doubt this was one of the top priorities for them either.
Like I said business banking is something they’ve been trying (and failing) to get any form of foothold in for a very long time now. Clydesdale is far from the biggest player in any field, but they’ve been actively pushing their business banking offer far more visibly than their rivals – and of course any presence is exponentlially higher than Nationwide’s pre-existing zero. For clarity, I’m not suggesting this is their top priority, but it’d be outrageous if all the presented rationale from the society which literally states this was a motivation was untrue (as it would have to be for your initial statement to be true).
Also not disputing there’s no money in credit cards, and that might well not be a priority. We will have to wait and see.
…and flogging credit cards to existing customers only doesn’t sound like ‘drive to build this side of their operation’ to me. Its more sound business sense. Don’t give your existing valuable customers an excuse to go wondering off to a competitor. Keep them in house.
Pushing a moribund loss-making product over one they’re interested in pushing (like, say, a mortgage) doesn’t seem very sensible business to me. I suggest it probably does make money for them, directly/indirectly. That’s not to say the Virgin credit card business is certainly a good fit for them, but it’s evidence to the contrary when it’s suggested that it definitely isn’t.
@Misty “so now isn’t a good time to be taking out a virgin credit card ?”
On the contrary, if the possibility of gaining a chunk of Virgin points via a SUB may be closing then it might be a very good time.@Misty “so now isn’t a good time to be taking out a virgin credit card ?”
On the contrary, if the possibility of gaining a chunk of Virgin points via a SUB may be closing then it might be a very good time.
@zio Thank you. I find it all a bit confusing. I’ve been putting off getting one as I am working towards a barclaycard voucher at the moment, and I don’t do MS so I need to pace my spending.I will read up on Robs articles on the Virgin Card, will it become a Nationwide Card, or is that something that is in the lap of the (financial) Gods?
I will read up on Robs articles on the Virgin Card, will it become a Nationwide Card, or is that something that is in the lap of the (financial) Gods?
Too many variables to know.
The possibilities are:
> The Virgin credit cards are merged with the Nationwide credit card offer, and run by Nationwide moving forward
> The Virgin credit cards are left as is (other than a rebrand) and remain with the Clydesdale Bank plc subsidiary
> The Virgin credit cards are sold offIn either case the owner and Virgin Atlantic may or may not continue the partnership/JV. If they don’t, then that may lead to the closure of the cards altogehter (ala John Lewis/HSBC) or the cards might be reissued with a different brand/rewards package.
I will read up on Robs articles on the Virgin Card, will it become a Nationwide Card, or is that something that is in the lap of the (financial) Gods?
Too many variables to know.
The possibilities are:
> The Virgin credit cards are merged with the Nationwide credit card offer, and run by Nationwide moving forward
> The Virgin credit cards are left as is (other than a rebrand) and remain with the Clydesdale Bank plc subsidiary
> The Virgin credit cards are sold offIn either case the owner and Virgin Atlantic may or may not continue the partnership/JV. If they don’t, then that may lead to the closure of the cards altogehter (ala John Lewis/HSBC) or the cards might be reissued with a different brand/rewards package.
Thank you for the comprehensive information @WillPS , I guess it’s a matter of waiting and seeing in my case, as I’ve realised the card I want is the one that charges the annual fee upfront, so I would be paying this out with no idea of what any future benefits might be.
But there is no spend target for the 18k SUB so the slug of points I referred to is in the bag/account as soon as you use the card. True you have to pay the fee (0.89ppp). True you may end up not have a full year to earn the voucher. To me personally the voucher has become less valuable as routes have been whittled. My plan for my points is AF redemptions.
Hi Again so for £160 I get 18k’s worth of virgin points with my first spend. The other thing I would find attractive with this card if I remember correctly is it’s fee free for spends in Europe, and that is where most of our travelling is, so it would be very useful for that purpose.
That’s right. I cancelled mine last year and missed it quickly.
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