Ryanair announces a new partnership with MasterCard to offer fee-free bookings for those customers with the prepaid card.

Ryanair will no longer offer customers using a Visa Electron card a fee-free transaction when buying their flights, after announcing a new partnership with MasterCard.

From 1 December the low-cost airline will accept the MasterCard Prepaid card as its free form of payment, ending its promotion with Visa Electron on 31 December, after which the latter will incur a £5 administration charge.

The MasterCard prepaid card works like a credit or debit card and people can apply for one without having a credit check or bank account, and does not incur interest or penalties. It works by prepaid customers topping up their card with money before they make a purchase.

Ryanair spokesperson Stephen McNamara, said: “We are pleased to announce our new partnership with MasterCard which will enable consumers to save even more when travelling on Ryanair’s unbeatable low fares.”

Ryanair currently charges £5 (€5) per person, per route for customers using any other debit card other than a Visa Electron, which has angered customers who for a family of four could face an additional levy of £40 on top of the cost of their flights for a return journey.

The UK Cards Association estimates that the actual charge for one transaction should be about 30p, as it says that banks charge less than £1 to process a debit card transaction. Ryanair has justified the tariff by saying that the most important aspect of booking flights for its customers is its low fares.

However, Ryanair’s decision to axe the fee-free option with Visa Electron may have been sparked by news that some providers are phasing out the feature.

Abbey and Travelex told BBC Radio 4’s Money Box programme that by next year their cards will not feature Visa Electron.