Why are challenger banks obsessed with their cards? Why are they bothering to make them so bright (Monzo), so metal (Revolut), so portrait (Starling)? Arenât bank cards a bit big banky? A symbol of the old way of doing things? Donât Tom Blomfeld, Nikolay Storonsky and Anne Boden dream of a world without cards, a world where contactless means card less. Thatâs what consumers should want, right? When you first think about it, it doesnât make sense. For us consumers we just want to be able to think âbuy breadâ and itâs bought. Wouldnât it be more âdisruptiveâ to do away with cards all together (e.g. Apple Pay)? The Facebook ads would write themselves, an open and empty palm with the words âintroducing our new cardâ at the top of the frame. So why are challenger banks still bothering with cards?
Because theyâre cool. And cool sells.
Peter Elms
The impact these cards have on the consumer is way more âdisruptiveâ than any algorithm the challenger banks could dream up. Those pretty pieces of plastic are exploiting evolutionary psychology, in much the same way Apple did, when it decided that the Ipods headphones should be white and not black. That metal or coral card is a classic example of conspicuous consumption.  When you get that card out of your wallet, youâre demonstrating to people that youâre possibly richer and probably more intelligent than the person youâre showing it to. Or at least thatâs what you want them to think. Itâs a theory as old as mass consumerism itself, first introduced by Thorstein Veblen in his book âThe Theory of the Leisure Classâ published in 1899, that a productâs ability to show that a person is superior to others is more valuable than the problem it solves. You donât buy a Rolls Royce because itâs a smoother drive than a Ford Escort.
More than that these new cards also help to create a perception that more people have them, than actually do, due to the way your memory works. In really simple terms, if something is âdifferentâ, youâre more likely to remember it, if you remember something more than other things (like white headphones) youâll trick yourself into thinking itâs happening more than it is. Thatâs why it feels like everyone on the tube is wearing white headphones (theyâre not). Add that to the fact that we are social beings (you donât need to think we should be more like lobsters to agree with this statement), we need to fit in to get on (at one time we needed to fit in to simply survive). If you think everyone else is doing something and youâre being left behind, youâre way more likely to get involved. Itâs the oldest marketing trick in the book, the fear of missing out, or #FOMO as they say on social media.
Putting aside evolutionary psychology for a minute, itâs really hard to market an invisible consumer product. If you canât see something itâs far harder to find out about it. A bank card is one of the simplest ways for a challenger to market itself, itâs a miniature billboard that each of its users carries around with them. Its vibrant colour, shape, or material is a conversation starter, and word of mouth marketing is pretty effective (far more effective than advertising).
So it doesnât really matter if thereâs a smarter way to pay for things, itâs more important that other people think weâre smarter than them. Thatâs why weâre all going to be relying on cards quite some time to come. Trust me, my card is brighter than yours.
Peter Elms is a Director at Alpaca Communications
Why are challenger banks obsessed with their cards? Why are they bothering to make them so bright (Monzo), so metal (Revolut), so portrait (Starling)? Arenât bank cards a bit big banky? A symbol of the old way of doing things? Donât Tom Blomfeld, Nikolay Storonsky and Anne Boden dream of a world without cards, a world where contactless means card less. Thatâs what consumers should want, right? When you first think about it, it doesnât make sense. For us consumers we just want to be able to think âbuy breadâ and itâs bought. Wouldnât it be more âdisruptiveâ to do away with cards all together (e.g. Apple Pay)? The Facebook ads would write themselves, an open and empty palm with the words âintroducing our new cardâ at the top of the frame. So why are challenger banks still bothering with cards?
Because theyâre cool. And cool sells.
Peter Elms
The impact these cards have on the consumer is way more âdisruptiveâ than any algorithm the challenger banks could dream up. Those pretty pieces of plastic are exploiting evolutionary psychology, in much the same way Apple did, when it decided that the Ipods headphones should be white and not black. That metal or coral card is a classic example of conspicuous consumption.  When you get that card out of your wallet, youâre demonstrating to people that youâre possibly richer and probably more intelligent than the person youâre showing it to. Or at least thatâs what you want them to think. Itâs a theory as old as mass consumerism itself, first introduced by Thorstein Veblen in his book âThe Theory of the Leisure Classâ published in 1899, that a productâs ability to show that a person is superior to others is more valuable than the problem it solves. You donât buy a Rolls Royce because itâs a smoother drive than a Ford Escort.
More than that these new cards also help to create a perception that more people have them, than actually do, due to the way your memory works. In really simple terms, if something is âdifferentâ, youâre more likely to remember it, if you remember something more than other things (like white headphones) youâll trick yourself into thinking itâs happening more than it is. Thatâs why it feels like everyone on the tube is wearing white headphones (theyâre not). Add that to the fact that we are social beings (you donât need to think we should be more like lobsters to agree with this statement), we need to fit in to get on (at one time we needed to fit in to simply survive). If you think everyone else is doing something and youâre being left behind, youâre way more likely to get involved. Itâs the oldest marketing trick in the book, the fear of missing out, or #FOMO as they say on social media.
Putting aside evolutionary psychology for a minute, itâs really hard to market an invisible consumer product. If you canât see something itâs far harder to find out about it. A bank card is one of the simplest ways for a challenger to market itself, itâs a miniature billboard that each of its users carries around with them. Its vibrant colour, shape, or material is a conversation starter, and word of mouth marketing is pretty effective (far more effective than advertising).
So it doesnât really matter if thereâs a smarter way to pay for things, itâs more important that other people think weâre smarter than them. Thatâs why weâre all going to be relying on cards quite some time to come. Trust me, my card is brighter than yours.
Peter Elms is a Director at Alpaca Communications