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Banking and Cards Research

Digging into the Customer Experience: Banking and Credit Cards

Corporate Insight’s Bank Monitor, Credit Card Monitor and Small Business Card Monitor provide ongoing coverage of the products, websites and overall customer experience offered by the nation’s leading banks and card issuers. Our value-added banking and credit card research digs deeply to evaluate the retail and small business customer experience.

Card Alternatives PDF Print E-mail
For most of the last decade, credit card issuers have been looking for new and innovative ways to encourage clients to use their card accounts for smaller purchases. In addition to accelerated point-earning on spending, many issuers have looked into alternate card form factors as a way to gain a foothold in the micro-payments category. In this edition of Credit Card Monitor, we investigate the currently available Card Alternatives, and how issuers are promoting the use of card accounts in non-traditional ways.
In this report, we investigate alternate payment form factors that card issuers are currently offering to their clients. These card alternatives traditionally include mini-cards, contactless chips and other devices that allow users to charge something to their card account without the need to swipe a traditional magnetic-strip card plastic. As we looked at the various options available at each of the ten largest U.S. issuers, we focused on the following key questions:
  • What alternative payment options are currently available from major card issuers?
  • How are firms promoting card alternatives?
  • Are any card issuers undertaking tests towards introducing next generation payment technologies?
At this time, the only alternate payment form factor offered by credit card issuers is RFID-based contactless payments, a technology that has been widely available since early 2005. Available from 50% of the firms tracked by Credit Card Monitor, contactless capabilities are offered in two ways to consumers: via chips embedded directly into traditional cards and through hard-backed stickers that card holders can attach to any flat personal item they carry around (most likely a cell phone). Regardless of which option is provided, users who request contactless connectivity are able to “tap and go” in many drugstores and similar chain retailers, holding their payment device up to a compatible reader.
 
Despite the availability of RFID-based contactless payments, and the ability of this option to generate sales for credit card firms, few issuers are doing much to promote the feature on their main website. Interestingly, 40% of issuers offer standalone sitelets about their contactless products, however each is difficult to find and appears to not have been updated in some time. The leader in the currently realm of contactless card alternatives is the only firm that facilitates the request of a contactless device via the private site – something all issuers should offer.
 
As we continued to delve into the world of card alternatives, we came across the following additional Key Findings:
  • Additional card alternatives, such as contactless key fobs and mini-cards, were previously offered but not anymore
  • Several firms have announced trials for additional card alternatives, but almost none discuss them on their public sites
  • Only one firm is promoting the coming availability of next generation NFC-based payments
 
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