Three Entrepreneurs from Edinburgh are entering the pet market with a proposition they say will reshape how owners save and pay for veterinary treatment.
John Darlington, Viki Mendelssohn and Sonya Cunningham have launched MyPetCard a prepaid Visa Card and online platform designed to help pet owners set aside money specifically for veterinary bills and other eligible pet-care expenses.
Instead of paying non-refundable monthly insurance premiums, MyPetCard customers regularly load money onto their card. Those funds can then be used directly at veterinary practices and online pet pharmacies.
Any unused money remains the cardholder’s and can be withdrawn at any time, subject to the applicable account terms. If a pet dies, the remaining balance can be returned to the customer or retained to support the care of a future pet.
By regularly building a dedicated pet-care fund, comparing veterinary and medicine prices and retaining ownership of every unused pound, customers of MyPetCard will have a transparent way to plan for their pets financial planning from day one of joining.
Recent guidance highlighted some of the limitations owners can encounter with pet insurance. Routine and preventative treatments, age of the pet and pre-existing conditions are generally excluded, and, there is also a large increase in complaints to the Competitions Ombudsman* regarding policy limitations found in the small print.
Consumer disputes regarding pet insurance remain a significant issue within the market. According to recent data released by the Financial Ombudsman Service, there were 2,065 new pet insurance complaints lodged during the 2025/26 period, with a 41% uphold rate for resolved cases.
Although this represents a slight decrease from the complaints filed in 2024/25, the volume of successful claims continues to underscore the ongoing challenges and limitations owners face.
MyPetCard provides a distinct alternative that is not insurance. By removing the need for a claims process or waiting for third-party approvals and eliminates the risk of rejections.
Customers establish a dedicated healthcare fund for their animals, ensuring that their available money can be accessed immediately to provide greater transparency and most importantly care for their pet when they need it.
MyPetCard is not insurance and is not positioned as a direct replacement insurance. Instead, it provides an alternative financial-planning tool for people who want greater transparency and control over how they prepare for pet-care costs.
Mr Darlington, said: “I wanted to create a simpler and more transparent solution that puts control back into the hands of pet owners.
“Having worked with veterinary practices and animal medicines for 20 years, I became increasingly frustrated by the dilemmas owners face sometimes having to choose between the cost of treatment and the care their pet needs.
“When two in three pet owners say they could not afford unexpected surgery and millions are already delaying veterinary visits because of cost, it is clear that people need another way to prepare.”
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