CPI Card Group recently announced that it is adding a contactless tungsten card to its encased metal card portfolio. The tungsten card is a weighty card at approximately four times that of a standard plastic card, which provides a tactile feel. The card is functionally considered to be dual-interface, allowing cardholders to swipe, dip, and tap to pay.
Metal cards add a luxury feel to the card and are typically found in premium card products like the American Express Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Capital One Venture X cards. As brands seek new ways to attract consumers, metal solutions offer a way to differentiate the card portfolio and generate loyalty.
The addition of dual-interface gives consumers more ways to pay, and dovetails with trends in contactless card payments that accelerated over the pandemic1. Credit card products have been historically the leaders in tap-to-pay functionality but issuers are now starting to convert debit card portfolios into dual-interface. Javelin Strategy & Research found that last year, 57% of consumers owned one or more debit cards that had a tap-to-pay feature as compared to 59% of credit cards. Tap-to-pay isn’t just for premium credit cards anymore.
I personally own a metal credit card, and there is something about its rigidity and weight that makes it feel like a premium product. There is also something satisfying about the audible clank when I put my card on the POS to initiate a contactless payment.
- https://www.bis.org/statistics/payment_stats/commentary2112.htm ↩︎
