But then you’re producing 3 different types with 3 different colour schemes and manufacturing processes so the price will at least triple.
With the prepaid, cards were produced in massive bulk and because they were not personalised until activation, you could just walk to the office and grab a replacement if you needed. The same is true of Current Account except names are now embossed so if you choose to have your name your card will be custom embossed - not massively expensive and if you need one in a hurry you can just grab one without your name on it. Running 3 different production lines with different card standards is just going to astronomical.
I’m all for disrupting banking but I’m not sure unembossed cards are really what we should be concentrating on. Imo, the totally valid benefits of unembossed don’t outweigh those of having embossed cards - accessibility being a key thing.
Either way, it may well cost Monzo materially more to produce unembossed cards through their supplier. (And suggestions that Monzo should try and outdo Gemalto et al are a bit silly imho!)
No, it won’t… no more than printing three versions of anything doesn’t triple the per-item price. Yes, it’ll be higher since you get discounts the more you produce, but it won’t triple!
The manufacture process will triple because of needing three processes for three different cards. The price per card will ALSO vary per process. For example, laser engraving may cost more per card than embossing. But then you also have to pay for the embossing service and engraving service, might as well pick one process than paying for two.
For example,
Embossed Coral Card,
Engraved Coral Card,
Embossed Coral core card
Engraved Coral core card,
Embossed Navy Card,
Engraved Navy Card,
Embossed Navy core card
Engraved Navy core card,
Plus mixing and matching, Navy with Coral core, Coral with Navy core.
You’d be paying more per item because you might need less Coral cards, as you then need Navy cards, so you won’t have as big of a wholesale price, and you’d also have to pay extra If you wanted the core or not and then for the two services for engraving and an embossing service. Most likely on a contract for x amount if cards, and repercussions if x isn’t met.
I don’t think I’m explaining this well but I’d agree costs would practically triple
Just re read your comment @GalaxyMergirl too and you explicitly stated choices for everyone, so if anything with that, might even more than triple.
Only if Monzo are manufacturing the cards themselves. If they are contracting to other companies to produce the cards (as they currently are for prepaid and Current Account cards) then the manufacturer is already bearing the cost of multiple production runs (as they produce many cards for many customers), and Monzo’s cost increase would be in the logistics of dealing with multiple incoming and outgoing SKUs. Individual card cost increase would be close to any increase in material cost, plus any process change cost (e.g. if laser engraving costs more than stamped embossing), plus the manufacturer’s percentage margin on the increase.
Yeah, I think it is very difficult to work this out as it is essentially a commercial agreement between Monzo and the production companies but a tripling of costs (as you’ve shown) as fairly reasonable!
This will never happen. I don’t think any bank makes the cards themselves.
Also, the cost to the manufacturer isn’t necessarily what will be charged to Monzo. Having multiple designs will always cost more than a single design, whether it costs more to make or not, because the “flexibility” is a commodity.
@GalaxyMergirl@anon72173902 you’ll both be pleased to know I solved my problem by taking some 800 grit sand paper to the number, stripping away the coral exposing white plastic.
I agree, it is used so rarely people don’t need to easily identify it - print hot over it Especially since it is a typical British 3-track magstripe (I don’t know what’s on the third track, but British Visa and MasterCard cards are three-track - British Amex is two-track, like most US cards, though).
No, if you read the post, it is clear that all cards will have the coral core eventually and the few cards with a white core will become collectors items.
A later post says that all investor cards will have the coral core.
but I’d agree costs would practically triple
so I will wait until I actually need a replacement card 
Especially since it is a typical British 3-track magstripe (I don’t know what’s on the third track, but British Visa and MasterCard cards are three-track - British Amex is two-track, like most US cards, though).