Virgin London Marathon Credit Card - Perfect for runners. Raise money for charity too

You can apply for a Virgin London Marathon Credit Card if you can answer YES to these 3 questions:

• Are you 18 or over?
• Do you live in the UK?
• Do you have a bank or building society account?

You can apply on this website. It’s easy, only takes a few minutes, and is totally secure.

That’s certainly the aim. But we take our responsibilities as a lender seriously so we do have to take into account your age, status and financial background.

Not at all. The Virgin London Marathon Credit Card is completely separate from the Virgin London Marathon itself. The credit card is offered by Virgin Money Limited, the financial services arm of the Virgin group. Whether you’re approved or declined for a card has no bearing at all on how your ballot application turns out.

The limit given is based on your personal circumstances. If you’ve got a high salary and low debts, you’re more likely to get a higher credit limit.

We aim to give you a decision immediately and, if your application is successful, we'll send you your card within 7-10 working days.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact our customer helpline on 0800 015 0306. Our lines are open 24/7 all year round.

You can run your Virgin London Marathon Credit Card account 24/7 using our online service or by calling us anytime on 0800 015 0306 - whichever is easier for you.

To tell us what to do with your cash back each month, and so we can add Gift Aid to your charity donations, you need a Virgin Money Giving account. We’ll set one of these up for you automatically (if you don’t already have one) and we need an email address to communicate with you about your account.

We’ll automatically set you up a Virgin Money Giving account and email you the details. Simple.

Nothing aside from applying for a Virgin London Marathon Credit Card. We'll link your accounts together, as long as you've used the same personal details. If you're declined for a credit card this won't affect the status of your Virgin Money Giving account.

You can automatically donate 0.8% cash back to charity when you make a card purchase and, if you’re eligible, Virgin Money Giving can also claim Gift Aid on your purchase which would currently take your donation up to 1% (1.02% to be precise).

Cash back can only be allocated to one charity at a time, however you can change your charity each month. You have 21 days from your statement date each month to change where you would like your cash back to be paid. Just log into your Virgin Money Giving account to redirect this.

Yes. Just log in to your Virgin Money Giving account and change your settings. You can do this up to 21 days after your statement date to re-direct that month’s cash back.

If you don’t choose a charity for your cash back to go to, or don't ask to have it paid to yourself, we’ll automatically pass your donation on to our chosen charity – Virgin Unite.

Virgin Unite is the independent charitable arm of the Virgin group, launched by Sir Richard Branson in September 2004. It was set up to tackle tough social challenges such as HIV and AIDS, as well as environmental issues.

Virgin Unite supports a wide range of charities worldwide, for example:

• Winston’s Wish – helping UK children and families cope with bereavement.
• Project Clean Water – helping provide clean drinking water on a global scale.
• Adventure Ecology – tackling global warming and the problems of a changing climate head and hands on.
• LoveLife - South Africa’s HIV prevention programme for young people.
• Kidscape – dedicated to preventing bullying and child abuse in the UK.
• Contact the Elderly – arranging regular get-togethers for groups of vulnerable older people with volunteers across the UK.
• Heaven’s Angels – delivering vital medical supplies to remote African villages by motorbike.
• The Railway Children - helping runaways and abandoned children worldwide.

When you’re logged in to your Virgin Money Giving account, you'll be asked to choose whether we pay your cash back to you or to a charity of your choice. If you choose to donate to charity, we'll ask you to tick a declaration box if you want us to claim Gift Aid on your donations.

If you close your Virgin London Marathon Credit Card account, you can still have a Virgin Money Giving account.

If you close your Virgin Money Giving account, you won’t be able to manage your cash back. You can still keep your Virgin London Marathon Credit Card, but we’ll keep paying your cash back to the last place you asked for it to be paid when you had a Virgin Money Giving account.

You'll need to update things like your name, email address and address with both Virgin Money Giving and MBNA (who issue your Virgin London Marathon Credit Card) should these details change, as these are separate accounts. Call MBNA on 0800 015 0306 (lines open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year).

It's important you keep your details up-to-date at all times so that, if we need to, we can contact you about your cash back.

Yes, it only takes a few minutes online, or by calling us on
0800 015 0307.

Remember though, you will need to do this within the first 60 days to receive the promotional balance transfer rate (2% handling fee applies).

Also, as the Virgin London Marathon Credit Card is issued by MBNA, remember you can't transfer a balance from another credit card issued by them.

Your monthly credit card statement will show you your cash back that month, and you can also see this by logging into your Virgin Money Giving account.

If you have any questions about how the amount of your cash back has been worked out please call 08456 10 2000 (9am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday).

No. You can choose to have your cash back paid to you.

On the anniversary of you activating your Virgin London Marathon Credit Card account, we’ll add up how much cash back is due to be paid to you and send you a cheque within 30 days. We'll only send you a cheque for your cash back if it comes to £10 or more. If it’s less than £10, it carries over to the next year.

Whether you've chosen to always have your cash back paid to you, or chosen it for some months only, we’ll always wait until the end of each anniversary year before we send you the cheque. We can't send it out before this.

With most charity credit cards, all contributions are passed on to just one charity, chosen by the credit card provider. The Virgin London Marathon Credit Card offers you the chance to choose your own charities to support. This means more charities can benefit, especially as you can choose to support a different one each month if you like.

Virgin Money Giving, the not-for-profit online charity donation service, processes donations for many, many charities, from the biggest in the UK to small local or very specialised ones. If the charity you want isn’t already on their system, it’s simple for them to join. Just flag it to the team at Virgin Money Giving through the virginmoneygiving.com website - and they'll get in touch with your favourite charity.

If you’re eligible, Virgin Money Giving can also claim Gift Aid when you donate your 0.8% cash back to charity – taking your total donation up to 1%.

If you’re donating your cash back to charity, it will be paid to your chosen charity on a monthly basis.

If you’d like your cash back paid to you, we’ll send you this by cheque within 30 days of each anniversary of you activating your Virgin London Marathon Credit Card.

We'll only send you a cheque for your cash back if it comes to £10 or more. If it’s less than £10, it carries over to the next year.

Just log in to your Virgin Money Giving account and change your settings. You can do this up to 21 days after your statement date to re-direct that month’s cash back.

Each penny of cash back shown on your monthly credit card statement gives you one Marathon Mile. So if you have £1.89 cash back that month, you’ve also earned 189 Marathon Miles. Which gives you 189 chances towards that quarter’s prize draw.

To check how many Marathon Miles you’ve earned each month, log in to your Virgin Money Giving account, or you could work it out from the amount of cash back on your monthly statement.

There are terms and conditions for the cash back and Marathon Miles:

• Read the Terms & Conditions for cash back and Marathon Miles (PDF, 318k)

Yes - every card comes with chip and PIN built in, giving you the most up-to-date protection against card crime.

Having a PIN makes it harder for anyone else to use your card if it gets stolen or lost.

When you get your card, your PIN will follow in a different envelope. You then have the option of changing your PIN to one you find easier to remember.

Contactless payments let you pay for items of £15 or less without having to key in your PIN.

It's all about making purchases on your Virgin Credit Card as hassle-free as possible. So when you're buying everyday things like coffee or lunch, you don't have to search around for cash. Just hold your card in front of the reader for a few seconds, and off you go.

Here's why you're better off with contactless:

• It's fast - hold your card close to the reader, wait for the beep or the green light and you're done.
• It's secure - you're in control because your card never leaves your hand.
• It's handy - like having the exact cash you need, when you need it.

Contactless payments are quick and easy. Here's what you need to do:

• Tell the retailer you'd like to pay with your contactless Virgin Credit Card.
• Hold the card against the terminal.
• Wait a second or two until you see the green lights or hear a beep.
• Off you go - if you need a receipt, just ask the retailer for one.

Yes. Contactless payments put you in control because your card never leaves your hand. For added security you'll occasionally be asked to enter your PIN. And just like Chip & PIN transactions, you won't be liable for any fraudulent contactless transactions made with your card.*

* If your card is lost or stolen you'll incur no liability for fraudulent use of your card provided you notify us as soon as you realise your card is missing or you notice any unusual transactions on your account.

Anywhere you see the contactless symbol (opposite) in the UK and worldwide*. The list of retailers offering contactless is growing all the time - shops, coffee bars, newsagents and more.

But don't worry if you don't see the contactless symbol, you can still use your card in the normal way and sign or enter your PIN.

*Contactless Virgin Credit Cards are designed for use in most countries around the world. However there are a small number of Contactless terminals in the United States which use a security mechanism not supported by MBNA. If you attempt a Contactless payment at one of these terminals it will be declined, however you will still be able to perform a standard swipe transaction at these retailers.

The terms and conditions which apply to your credit card will apply when making contactless payments. We may change your terms and conditions or add new ones at any time but will always tell you when we do.

You'll find detailed info about our charges and interest rates in the summary box for your Virgin London Marathon Credit Card before you apply.

For balance transfers we will charge interest at the promotional rate of 8.9% p.a. until the transferred balances are paid off. This offer only applies to transactions made within the first 60 days from the account opening date.*

On cash advances your annual rate will be 27.9% p.a.*

If you break the terms and conditions, for instance if you’re late with or miss a monthly payment, your promotional rates are automatically withdrawn and the standard variable rate will apply. Full terms and conditions are sent with your card for you to keep.

*There is a handling fee. See the summary box for full details.

Yes, you can use your card at over 20 million shops, restaurants, petrol stations and over 1 million cash machines in most countries throughout the world.

But don’t forget, if you buy something with your Virgin Credit Card whilst abroad there’s a commission fee of 2.99%. And if you need some emergency cash, remember to factor in the normal cash advance fee too.

If you’d like to speak to us while you’re abroad just call +44 1244 673 101. Call the operator and ask to reverse the charges.

If you don't pay off your balance in full, your repayments will be allocated to balances at the highest rates first. If you have balances attracting the same promotional rate, we will allocate your repayments to the balance with the earliest start date - and if the start dates are the same, repayments will come from the one with the highest standard rate.

Please note, this applies whether or not lower interest rate transactions have appeared on your statement yet.