United Airlines and TSYS’ Netspend to launch prepaid Visa rewards card

TSYS subsidiary Netspend said Tuesday it is partnering with United Airlines to launch a MileagePlus GO Visa prepaid card this summer. No precise “takeoff” date for the card was given.

This will be the first such prepaid card in the U.S. to offer air mileage rewards for purchases using the cards, said Austin, Texas-based Netspend. The miles will be redeemed through United Airlines’ MileagePlus loyalty program.

“The market for prepaid continues to expand,” Netspend President Chuck Harris said in a statement. “Our new MileagePlus GO Visa Prepaid Card will attract frequent flyers who may not know much about prepaid cards, but have an affinity to United’s MileagePlus program and are looking for new ways to earn miles.”

“Through MileagePlus, we offer customers a variety of ways to both earn and use their miles — from flights in United’s global network to once-in-a-lifetime experiences,” Praveen Sharma, United’s vice president over loyalty, said in a statement.

Netspend said United customers will be able to order the Visa-branded prepaid card online using their current MileagePlus account number. Republic Bank will be the issuer, with the account insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The cards, which rely on cash loaded onto them by customers, will feature electronic alerts to monitor spending.

Prepaid card specialty company Netspend is a subsidiary of global credit-card and payment processor TSYS, which is headquartered in Columbus.

For more information, visit www.mileageplusgo.com.

This story was originally published May 23, 2017 at 12:16 PM with the headline "United Airlines and TSYS’ Netspend to launch prepaid Visa rewards card."