National Express is planning to replace its instant recognition voucher scheme with a new motivation programme that uses a pre-paid credit card.

Under the new scheme, due to go live by September, managers at the transport firm who want to reward an employee can load a sum of cash through an internet portal on to the card.

The company will pay the tax and national insurance (NI) due on the money before the end of the financial year. Employees then receive the full value of their reward without paying tax and NI.