Designer credit cards compete for wallet share
March 01, 2008
Credit cards are turning arty.
Card issuers are trying to catch the eyes of customers with innovative designs, as the entire industry is in a fierce battle for a bigger piece of the credit pie.
Kookmin Card this week unveiled a card with its front covered with a leather-like pigment. The design upgrade will be applied to its KB Star Card product set to debut next week and it will have two types: ostrich and crocodile.
“We were inspired by the fact that wallets that contain cards are mostly made of leather,” said Cho Yong-soo, assistant manager of the card marketing department at Kookmin Card.
“Although the material is not real, it feels like leather.” Current KB Star Card subscribers can also receive the newly-designed card upon request.
The card unit of the nation’s No. 1 lender forecast that the industry is increasingly placing priority on design to distinguish brands, because customers now tend to take the design factor into consideration when choosing which card to use.
“The time is gone when credit cards competed against each other with functional benefits, such as discounts and points,” said a spokesman.
It was Hyundai Card, a unit of Hyundai Group, that prompted the design rivalry among card issuers. In 2003, when the majority of credit cards differed only in color and geometric pattern, Hyundai introduced a transparent card. Next came a “mini card,” almost half the size of the industry standard that functioned the same as regular-size cards, and its colors were vivid ― like red and hot pink. The card firm recently unleashed another innovation, adopting the industry term “color core.” The new product has a colored plate, or core, which means the 0.8-milimeter side of the card is tinted. Conventionally, cards have white sides.
According to Cha Kyung-mo, a spokesman with Hyundai Card, the company aims to make cards serve as “decorations” for wallets. “When a Korean adult carries an average of four credit cards, we hope our card will win a position game inside the wallet. Raising the so-called wallet share is our goal,” he said. Designing one card takes hundreds of millions of won (over $100,000), he said. BC Card has fashion models on its Rainbow Card for the younger demographic.
Samsung Card lets subscribers design cards with pictures from movies or their own photos. - By Seo Ji-eun Staff Reporter
The time is gone when credit cards competed against each other with functional benefits, such as discounts and points,” said a spokesman
many company's credit card has been arty. companys trying to catch the eyes of customer with design, not a convenience or function.
credit card well known as convenience, so credit card companies competed with functional things something like point or discount.
but they trying to moving customer's heart with arty design.
arty design for credit card will be cultural icon. I think this marketing strategy following postmodernism. nowdays customer can choose credit card's design. it is following postmodernism's idea : individuality is regarded so important.
not only credit card but also many of things are going to be unique and special, and only unique product will be survive in the market.
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