Collected thoughts on card design

I got my new Wise card the other day which is an interesting “upside down” design. I’m so used to the mag stripe being at the top that I ended up with an upside down signature…


Quite pleased they’re now using Visa though as my Monzo and Starling cards are Mastercard of course.

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Interesting to see it’s a Visa Infinite card. Seems like another case of fintechs using a high tier card (like Mastercard World debit that Monzo and Starling use - and World Elite that Monzo use for Plus and Premium) but with none of the traditional perks (concierge etc), unlike the traditional banks which have always reserved these tiers for premium accounts.

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Yes, I noticed the Infinite label. As far as I know it comes with no additional benefits (like my Monzo Personal and Business being Mastercard World Debit) which renders these distinctions pretty meaningless.

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It does give them more in interchange fees though

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Ah, that’s interesting, thanks.

Here is the explanation for MC, and I’d expect it to be very similar, if not the same for Visa

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I messaged HSBC on Twitter - this was their response about the implementation of the new design cards.

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I’m a big fan of the upside down approach to cards. It’s a layout that makes far more sense to me, and I’d even go as far to say that it’s the right way up approach and the old ones are upside down.

Primarily because now, when it’s swiped, everything will be the right way up rather than upside down.

Revolut have done it on their standard cards too. Though their other cards, whilst having the new aesthetics, are still upside down.

My only gripe with this superior layout, is when the visa or MasterCard logo is still on the front. Really cramps the bottom right corner of the card. Move it to the back!

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There isn’t really much more room on the back – I think the front left corner would be better in this instance

Depends how much stuff you try to cram onto it.

Plenty of room on the Revolut card for instance. Would even look quite nice if they tweaked the layout slightly to accommodate it.

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Who swipes though?

Now that would be the wrong way round in my horizontal wallet. Taking out the card with my right hand, I’d have to do a weird 180° with the card to put it in a POS machine, if needed.

I’d wager a good number of folks who still require a physical card at all. Perhaps less so in the U.K. though. Both the chips on my Barclays and Monzo cards are not working. If I’m without Apple Pay my only option is to swipe.

Prior to Apple Pay, quite a lot of folks in the US, which is where I tend to visit most. Apple Pay adoption is much lower there too, so I do still need to swipe a lot!

Ultimately though it’s just a small attention to detail thing that I just like.

Sounds more like a flaw with the design of your wallet than an issue with the card layout if you ask me! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I’ve just re-uploaded my FlexAccount card to Google Pay and there is a new design!

Screenshot_20210706_165148_com.google.android.gms_2

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I like how they included the braille dots even though it’s an image

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Nah, someone was belligerently insisting on here yesterday that they wouldn’t have a new design, especially because their new website uses the old design. Even went as far as asking some social media numpty on Facebook when clearly they are likely to be the last to know like all social media people… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I can’t believe someone was doing that, what a stupid thing to do…

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I actually prefer the old design.

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I went back to Facebook with this new infomation and it seems that this is part of their new “eco cards” rollout, which I assume this article is referring to Nationwide to offer ‘eco-friendly’ credit and debit cards made from recycled plastic | South Wales Argus

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I do like both of them, however, having the house logo twice always bothered me slightly on their old one (the main Nationwide logo in the corner and the house in the centre). I like their “Building Society, Nationwide” slogan and I like how it looks on their cards so I’m happy with this new design.

Any new cards should be this new design, but only for the FlexAccount. I assume the other accounts will be updated at some point soon.

Does anyone know if reporting my Nationwide debit card as lost will impact a CASS switch to Nationwide from NatWest?