The Coral Core!

Just stick some sellotape over the numbers

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Well I would but it’s already too late…

Why do you say this? Laser engraved cards aren’t expensive. Parts of your
driving licence are.

My point being embossed cards are far cheaper!

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On what grounds do you claim this? Once the equipment to produce either is owned, cost should be virtually identical!

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Uber excited for my investor card based on this!

My non-embossed debit card!

https://sjc3.discourse-cdn.com/business5/uploads/monzo/optimized/2X/a/aa2fdf040f4c2e6cc44d0ff033e955a02f282f83_1_493x500.jpeg

Making embossed cards are cheaper because the technology has been around much longer. You already answered your question too “Once the equipment to produce either is owned”. Monzo do not need to buy the equipment hence a significant cost saving in buying enough higher quality laser engraving card machines to meet demands plus any other costings to make them higher quality to stop the rubbing.

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But Monzo doesn’t make the cards. Companies like Gemalto are very familiar making these. That card you show is clearly rubbish.

But there are other techniques - various printing methods that are then top-coated and laser engraving that are widely used by all the major card manufacturers and are extremely durable. Many cards issued in the US (remember, same companies) are produced this way today, and the companies are familiar with it. I imagine it may even save money as the process is faster.

If Monzo had to re-tool, there’d be a cost, but they don’t - unlike, say, Metro Bank (which prints in-branch), Monzo is contracting this out.

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What is the approximate cost to Monzo for issuing a card? This seems like the sort of thing where it could easily be abused by a few hundred/thousand customers wanting to switch to a new nicer card, but could be mitigated by a “replacing lost/damaged cards is free, but if you want a newer card before your expiry date then you can opt for one for £X”. Could still be abused, but I’d expect most Monzo customers keyed-in enough to even know/care about changes to the physical card would rather do the right thing.

Similarly, are the card suppliers able to supply compatible ‘premium’ EMV cards (e.g. using metal rather than plastic like the Amex Platinum/Centurion, JPM Palladium Card, etc) at additional cost? I’d personally pay a premium for a Tungsten-core card for the metallurgical novelty. Likewise for custom-printed cards as many banks now offer. Extra SKUs are a logistics headache, but if there are already hooks for investor/non-investor card dispatch then at least some of the backend to support that is ready.

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Phwoar! That looks really nice

My Card

IMG_0117

The one thing that I don’t think has been covered on this embossed vs not thread is the integrated accessibility feature for the partially sighted! (in an embossed card)

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Speaking of card manufacturing, is it possible to use higher grade plastic for the cards? I got my debit card not too long ago and it’s already bent and feels like it’s going to break any time (i had the prepaid card for over 1 year and I didn’t have these problems).

I hadn’t considered this before. Which then prompted me to wonder about braille cards and their existence.

Apparently, you can get “‘RNIB approved’ accessible bank cards” that feature braille and notches in their sides to indicate orientation.

So I think the standardisation of whether a card is embossed or not, would be of little consequence in comparison to Monzo having a specific card developed for visually impaired users.

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This, times a thousand.

Also, laser engraving is tactile as well, and embossing doesn’t cover things like the CVC2. I’m 100% for making things very accessible, but that isn’t a good argument for embossing.

except laser engraving is not as tactile as embossing. My blind friend said it easy and clear to touch read embossing but with laser engraving he not always sure and has to guess at times.

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Definitely fair, I haven’t actually tried. But that’s a good argument for choice - maybe Monzo could have a few cards:

Unembossed, all-coral. Maybe with some transparent elements and either metallic printing or laser engraving (both look great). A really show-offy card.

A plainer-looking (navy, perhaps accented with the Monzo logo colours - maybe a coral core) embossed card for those who want a legacy bank experience.

A truly accessible card, engraved, with braille features and all elements accessible. Still all-coral, of course, so users needing this don’t miss out on also having as nice of card as possible. But, also have a version of the ‘legacy bank-looking’ card with the extra accessible elements. Choice for everyone!

Just got my current account card… but now I really want one with a coral core. Looks awesome!

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But, you got a collector’s edition :slight_smile: I saw a Mondo card last night. It doesn’t look as nice as recent cards, but it sure was cool to see… :smiley:

The bunq Mastercard is cool with no details on the front and all printed on the back at a right angle!

Their Mæstro card just has account details on the front and no card number visible.