Virgin Money doubles home loan rewards

Customers who apply for Reward Me Home Loans between 15 August and 31 October, and settle by 28 February 2017, will earn 20,000 Velocity Points for every $100,000 borrowed at settlement, the financial services arm of Richard Branson’s conglomerate has said.

This is in addition to its standard offering of 1,000 points per month for each loan split, plus 30,000 bonus points every three years.

According to Virgin Money, this means that a borrower taking out a $400,000 mortgage could earn enough points over 10 years to fly a family of four from Sydney to Los Angeles and back.

Customers could also potentially earn more points if they take up the loan in tandem with Virgin’s credits cards or insurance offerings.

Johnny Lockwood, GM for lending, cards and deposits at Virgin Money Australia, said: “When we launched our Reward Me Home Loans, it was with a strong commitment to ensuring our customers feel valued and rewarded for choosing us…

“Having a home loan doesn’t have to mean that holiday dreams go on hold.”

Mr Lockwood added that the brand was “well aware that interest rates are one of the most important considerations for borrowers choosing a new home loan”, so Virgin Money was “pretty pleased to pass on the RBA’s August rate cut in full”. This has brought the lowest variable rate for Reward Me Home Loan owner-occupier to 3.69 per cent per annum.

He added: “Our competitive interest rates could help our Reward Me customers pay down their home loans faster, while also allowing them to benefit from earning Velocity Points that can be turned into flights, accommodation, and more.”

As well as announcing the new Velocity Point rewards, Virgin Money has also announced the signing of a new partnership with mortgage aggregator FAST. 

Three months after entering the Australian mortgage market in partnership with aggregator PLAN Australia, Virgin Money has broadened its distribution footprint to FAST, as part of a “staged rollout” of the Reward Me Home Loan offering.

Virgin Money CEO Greg Boyle said: “We are very excited to announce this new partnership with FAST, an organisation that clearly shares Virgin Money’s commitment to delivering a great customer experience.

“Together with FAST’s national network of expert finance brokers, we look forward to helping even more Australians achieve their home ownership goals.”

FAST CEO Brendan Wright welcomed the addition of Virgin Money to its lending panel, saying: “Since our inception, we have worked hard to build strong relationships with multiple lenders to deliver a strong and diverse lending panel to brokers.

“Well-known across the world for its novel approach and popular customer rewards program, we are excited to bring Virgin Money to our brokers.”

According to Mr Lockwood at Virgin Money, the partnership with FAST forms part of the brand’s “ambitious growth plans”, which include the introduction of more mortgage broker partnerships, “together with potentially direct origination over the next year”.