Prepaid card provider Netspend, a TSYS Company, and United Airlines announced the launch of the MileagePlus GO Visa Prepaid Card, the first prepaid card program in the U.S. offering a consumer the opportunity to directly earn miles for qualifying purchases made with a prepaid card.

The card will be available summer 2017 and will reward cardholder spending with award miles that can be redeemed through United’s MileagePlus loyalty program, consistently voted the world’s Best Frequent Flyer Program by Global Traveler magazine.

“The market for prepaid continues to expand. 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,” said Netspend president Chuck Harris. “We are also eager to offer the opportunity to earn airline miles to consumers who are looking for new financial solutions to help them manage their money. Several of our prepaid cards offer a loyalty component, but no other prepaid card in the U.S. offers the ability to directly earn miles through a major airline. We’re excited to reach out to this consumer with a great partner like United Airlines.”

"With the MileagePlus GO Visa Prepaid Card, we are providing another avenue for customers to earn MileagePlus miles,” said Praveen Sharma, vice president, Loyalty, at United. “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.”

Travelers will be able to order a MileagePlus GO Visa Prepaid Card online using their active MileagePlus account number. The new card will carry the Visa logo and will be issued by Republic Bank. The card account will be FDIC-insured on a pass through basis and offers electronic anytime alerts to help cardholders monitor spending. For more information about the MileagePlus GO Visa Prepaid Card, please visit www.mileageplusgo.com.

“By partnering with United and Netspend, Visa is helping broaden access to payments for more customers,” said David Josephs, head of North American debit and prepaid solutions at Visa. “Together, we are continuing to innovate and develop new payment products that meet evolving customer needs.”

General purpose reloadable prepaid cards allow consumers to access the benefits of digital commerce, enabling them to make payments in mobile applications or online and to withdraw cash from ATMs without opening a traditional bank account or credit card account. According to Mercator Advisory Group, the prepaid market has grown from less than $1 billion in 2003 to nearly $96.8 billion in 2015. The total dollar value loaded onto these prepaid cards is expected to reach $112 billion by 2018.