Australian credit cardholders will be better informed about the free insurances and benefits that come with their cards from today with the launch of Virgil Assist. Virgil is a ‘virtual nerd’ who trawls credit card and insurance Product Disclosure Statements to educate credit card holders on the benefits and insurances they have access to, as well as their activation criteria.
Using travel insurance as the example, almost half (47%) of all credit cards offer it free, while 93% of premium cards do*. Cardholders can find their card on virgilassist.com and Virgil will help them with what they need to do to qualify for their policy, including whether a minimum spend on the card is required and how much, whether they need to book flights on the card for all people travelling, or whether family members are covered by the policy. No personal information is needed and if cardholders fail to meet the policy criteria or their card’s cover is inadequate, they can buy a comprehensive travel insurance policy at virgilassist.com.
Founder and CEO of Virgil Assist, Cameron Pearson, said: “Credit cardholders today have access to valuable benefits. Travel insurance, price guarantees and extended warranty are all commonly available, but many cardholders don’t know what to do to qualify for them. We launched virgilassist.com to help the millions of cardholders to access the protection of the insurances and the benefits that come with their credit cards.
“Understandably, most credit cards have some activation criteria cardholders need to meet to access insurance benefits. So, Virgil will help cardholders identify what they need to know, so they can buy a new fridge knowing they have access to an extended warranty or get the best price through price guarantees, as long as they buy it on that card. Or they can depart on their holiday knowing they’re travelling with a comprehensive travel insurance policy because they paid for their family’s return flights on their card.”
Cameron developed Virgil Assist when he saw a gap in the market between the quality of benefits and insurances provided free with many credit cards and what cardholders knew about them and their activation criteria. This is particularly relevant for travel insurance. Virgil helps consumers understand the activation criteria for the travel insurance provided on their credit card, so they can avoid either travelling without the right cover or buying a travel insurance policy even though they already have access to a free, comprehensive travel insurance policy through their credit card.
Cameron says: “When credit card providers first started offering benefits to entice customers, the quality of the insurance products was poor, but this isn’t the case today. The insurance coverages vary significantly depending on the type of credit card, however cardholders can enjoy good quality benefits for free if they know what they need to do to access them. It just makes sense to get the most out of your credit card.”
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