Credit card 2.0: plastic money becomes interactive

Additional personalization features are intended to attract customers

The increasing spread of mobile payment options that can be processed quickly and easily using a smartphone or tablet, for example, is forcing providers of classic credit cards to rethink. In order not to lose their own customer base, international companies such as Visa and US banks such as Citigroup or UMB are bringing in http://umb.com but already a counter-attack: under the catchphrase "credit card 2.0", a new, electronically upgraded form of plastic money is being advertised, which is intended to lure consumers with additional interactive personalization and payment features as well as better security mechanisms.

Credit card 2.0

"Today, credit cards are by far the strongest source of revenue, especially in the e-business sector. However, due to the current trend towards mobile payment solutions such as cell phone apps, they run the risk of becoming superfluous soon," outlines Christoph Holz, Managing Director of Holzweg e-commerce solutions http://holzweg.com , opposite pressetext the current situation. The expert sees the development of a "credit card 2.0" as a clear attempt by the respective provider to secure their own business future. "The credit card companies have rested on their fame for too long and are now feeling the fierce competition from new forms of payment. But I don't think that interactive credit cards can turn things around again," said Holz.

Buttons and lights

As a plus point compared to conventional plastic cards, reference is first made to the new customization and functional options. The implementations of the individual providers are very different. For example, the US bank UMB recently presented a new technology called "ePlate" which allows consumers to choose between different payment options at the touch of a button on their credit card. Depending on the choice, different code sequences are then stored in the magnetic stripe of the card and transmitted to the responsible institute.

"Our new credit card is literally an electronic device. It has a total of almost 80 electronic components built into it and it has buttons and lights," quoted the US portal American banker George Schmelzel, senior vice president of the Credit Card Services department at UMB. The in-house ePlate card has been offered since Thanksgiving - so only for almost two weeks - in cooperation with VISA.

Question of trust

"In the past there have been various attempts to expand the personalization and functional options of credit cards. All of these have failed so far," says e-commerce expert Holz. He is also convinced that he knows a key reason for this: "Additional personalization options are a question of trust. The new features must first prove themselves to customers in terms of reliability and security. This is precisely why credit cards have not been equipped with technological features so far, and for good reason. "

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