Give Me Some Skins, CapitalOne!
So there has been a lot of press about the new CapitalOne CardLab recently. I have seen a few folks blogging about it, seen it on the news, television commercials and so forth. We have seen similar technology with a few other financial institutions. What makes this particular card special is not only can you design the entire front of the card (other FIs have limited the artwork to specific areas of the card), but you can select the terms and rewards of the card.
Let that sink in a little. It is a little like web 2.0 meets credit cards. It allows the applicant to design their own card graphics and say how they want to spend using it by selecting their rewards. This almost guarantees that this new CapitalOne card with be the PRIMARY credit card for that individual. Seriously, given the option between my regular old CU Platinum card or a cool card that I could design myself or design with a picture of me and my family, a tribute to my favorite band or whatever – guess which one I will be whipping out? I would be the envy of my friends. Well not really but they will be curious (and likely new card holders shortly after).
Not only does this appeal to me (A Gen X 33-year old consumer that rarely carries cash) but also my Mom (a young boomer with a stack of credit cards) but also my young Gen Y friends who would maybe put artwork from their band on the card or a picture of their friends or maybe even boy(girl)friend. One thing Gen Y likes is customization and free expression of individuality – and this card has that in spades. I could even see the high school graphic design classes spend designing “card skins” for their friends or for a little extra dough.
Speaking of card skins, did you know that someone already makes them? Do you know what they are? They are basically custom designed stickers to apply over your credit or debit card for only $4.99. So if you think that there is no demand or interest in this technology, you couldn’t be more wrong. Check out the press that CreditCovers is getting. People want a way to customize their cards so badly that they are willing to buy stickers to put over their (your) cards. Not only that, the designs for the “CreditCovers” rock!
Now, this all sucks for me a little as we design card plastics for our credit union clients. I am not saying that this is the death of branded card plastics. You will still have the folks who either don’t care or don’t want to deal with the hassle of designing a card themselves.
What I am saying is that if you don’t begin working from the position of anticipating the needs of your members, they will go somewhere else or just paint over you.
I have been trying to track down who is offering this custom card service but everyone is keeping that information tightly sealed. If any of the readers out there has a line on this, please feel free to share. I would like to see credit unions jump into this because I truly think it will begin to affect card usage by your members. I wouldnt be surprised if the companies team up with Facebook or Myspace to be offering cards to their members using their profile images. It is only a matter of time.
Plus, I think it is pretty damn cool. I will be ordering a card myself. I may even design a few card skins for fun. My new CapitalOne card can’t have all the fun.
I guess my credit union visa card will be getting a little rest soon
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Comments
Awesome post, Tony!
Loved the point: “What I am saying is that if you don’t begin working from the position of anticipating the needs of your members, they will go somewhere else or just paint over you.”
Those credit covers are pretty cool.
The ability to put any picture on your card is awesome. If I weren’t so dedicated to avoiding credit cards at all costs, I’d open a capitol one card and put some of my own artwork on it. That is something that has always drawn me in, being able to say, this is mine. You might have something similar, but nobody is going to have the exact same thing as I do. This is me.
Ginny – I do the same thing when I buy gift cards (which I do frequently). I not only have a personal ringtone on my treo but I have special ring tone for different callers. It is obvious that people want to put their thumbprint on their personal items. This is why you see cars with giant rims, or special paint jobs. This is why you see folks with multi-colored hair or expensive purses. Most people want things that will convey to the world around them “Here I am, I am unique and special”. Fortunately I am tall, goofy and I have red hair so I kind of came off the assembly line “Pre-Customized” 
Trey – Thanks for coming by. I just hope that the trend will begin to turn in the industry.
Andy – I would absolutely design my own. There is a couple of benefits there, one it is just cool. The other reason is that for anyone who sees the card, it is like a mini portfolio piece that would allow me to talk about what I do (and we see I like to talk about what I do). But there is another benefit. If I have several cards for different purposes I could just put on corresponding graphics. I have 4 CapitalOne cards right now. Personal gas card, coffee shop business card, agency business card and wife’s gas card. I could put a picture of my car on my gas card (ok thats lame, I would probably use a different graphic but you get the point) I could put the coffeeshop logo on that business card and same for the Agency. Or I just could have fun and put something crazy on the card. There is so many reasons to do this and I can’t think of a single reason not to.
This is so neat.
I know I’d want my wife and kids on mine so I can see their faces everytime I purchase and think something to the effect of “Do I really need this set of Ginsu knives? Is it in the best interest of my family blowing my money like this?”
Or you could take a picture of a credit card and put that on there! Wouldn’t that look cool? The card would have a picture of a picture of a picture…
Or Hulk Hogan.
No, here is the coolest card – just flames. That would be awesome.
Yes, I like the Hulk Hogan credit card “Oh yeah Brother!”
I like the fire idea too. But the card would have to be black on the bottom like it is half burnt.
Sometimes my geekines overwhelms me.
I would love to design an Elvis one, although probably like the custom stamps offered by the Post Office, I’d probably run into a “rights” problem.
OK, so I love this idea. But will the graphics be censored? And where do they draw the line? What if someone wanted to put a completely offensive graphic on their card? Or state their opinion on a controversial issue. Would the Capital One stand for having their logo next to an image telling the president to F*#K off? Just being the devils advocate here .
I am sure that they would not permit any pornography or curse words. I am also sure that they would not permit the use of copyrighted materials (like the image of Elvis or Hulk Hogan).
As for political statements, that is interesting. If someone uploaded a graphic that said “Pro-Life and proud of it” would capital one omit it? Good question!
CreditCovers are a third party company, a rather trendy and edgy one at that — they are obviously not concerned with being politically correct. Check out the “Blood Sucking Financial Institution” card by Todd Francis of ELEMENT SKATEBOARDS or the designs from MARC JACOBS!
CreditCovers ROCK!
I went back and read Ron’s post about this. The discussion is very interesting.
Personally, I think this is a hit that will catch on. I love it when online retailers offer unique gift card skins – I spend quite a bit of time picking just the right one – then there are the personalized ring tones (in particular, the ones created by individuals for their iPhones). I think this falls in the same category – consumers love products that let them show their individuality.