Neo Financial partners with United Airlines to launch credit card

Neo Financial has partnered with United Airlines to launch a credit card this spring.

On Tuesday, the Calgary-based FinTech company announced it will launch the United MileagePlus Neo World Elite Mastercard in April. The credit card is issued by Neo, with United Airlines providing the MileagePlus loyalty program. It comes with several travel benefits, including priority boarding, a free checked bag, access to the Neo rewards network, a loyalty air miles program, and the ability to use miles towards any Star Alliance airline.

“When you think about the scale of United Airlines…this is an extremely coveted category for banks to partner with.”
Jeff Adamson, Neo

The move comes at a time when the Canadian credit card landscape is heating up. Competition among alternative financial organizations in the credit card space has also increased, with other FinTech companies like WealthSimple also launching credit cards in recent months.

The co-branded credit card is the latest addition to Neo’s suite of Mastercard credit cards, a feature chief commercial officer and co-founder Jeff Adamson believes was a part of United’s decision to partner with Neo.

“Neo is one of the few companies in North America that has vertically integrated directly with Mastercard,” Adamson told BetaKit. “That gives us speed, flexibility, and the ability to build financial products that traditional banks on legacy infrastructure simply can’t match.

Dubbed one of Canada’s fastest-growing fintech companies by The Globe and Mail and Deloitte, Neo was one of a variety of institutions competing for the contract, including Canadian legacy banks RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC, and National Bank.

“When you think about the scale of United Airlines—the world’s largest airline—this is an extremely coveted category for banks to partner with, and the fact that a five-year-old Calgary-based fintech is winning deals…I think it speaks volumes about how both of these industries are progressing,” Adamson said.

BetaKit asked Adamson why Neo hadn’t partnered with a Canadian airline, like Air Canada or fellow Calgary company WestJet. Adamson said United’s size and scope enabled the challenger bank to increase competition in an otherwise walled-off segment of the travel industry.

“Canadian airlines have historically partnered only with traditional banks, which perpetuates the oligopolies,” he said. “Partnering with United…validates that Neo can operate at scale and brings real competition and access to a travel rewards category that badly needs it.”

BetaKit reached out to United Airlines to ask why the company chose Neo Financial over some of its more established peers, but the aircarrier did not respond by press time.

With another month before the partnership goes live, Neo has launched a waitlist to sign up for the credit card.

BetaKit’s Prairies reporting is funded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta.

Feature image courtesy Neo Financial.