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The future card: this is how the industry is working to make your credit card more than just a means of payment

Reinventing the credit card at a time when it seems that the technological momentum will take payments from the mobile does not seem simple. Let's see how the industry is working to create the future card.

The credit card also evolves technologically. Over the years have been introduced different changes that have made the card that we have in our portfolio today only retain some aesthetic looks with the first cards. Let's see how the industry is working so that the future card is more than just a means of payment.

Although credit cards have evolved, they basically allow you to do the same thing as in your origins. Of course, when it comes to pointing out the improvements, you have to pause in two key aspects. First, the incorporation of the chip has improved the safety with respect to the use of magnetic stripe reading. In this way, the need to sign the receipt of the card was changed by entering a PIN that is verified directly with the depository of the card.

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On the other hand, the incorporation of the contactless technology facilitates the communication between card and POS. It is enough to bring the credit card close to the POS to a close distance so that the exchange of information takes place. This makes payments much faster since we do not need to remove the card from the wallet or the wallet, and simply approach the POS to recognize the payment. From here we can only enter the PIN if necessary to authorize the operation.


The card of the future, some industry proposals

But despite the growing trend towards the incorporation of the card into mobile devices, the industry continues to innovate looking to reinvent the so-called "plastic money". This is the case of Wallaby Financial, a startup that has created a smart card that allows associating all our credit cards. In this way, we have a unique card with which we pay for all purchases.

When choosing which one to pay, it does so based on different algorithms that have to do with our preferences, availability, and so on. This way it ends up with the process of testing with different cards when one of them does not work or does not have enough balance.

Another example is the proposal for a Display Card, which incorporates a small touch keypad in the card itself that allows identification to make secure payments or for other activities, such as the generation of a security key for access to electronic banking systems.

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This utility of keyboard and screen incorporated in the own card allow the consultation of the balance of the account, the credit limit or the last movements made. In addition, single-use passwords can be created for each transaction, which helps improve the security of electronic payments.

The future is mobile and the card is integrated into the wallet

But the fact is that if we take into account that the number of transactions carried out with the smartphone as a means of payment increases, the future of the card seems to be integrated with the device. The e-wallet, or Wallet, allows us to associate different cards with this wallet that uses the mobile phone to communicate with the POS, approaching both devices, as we have discussed in the case of NFC cards.

This way you do not even need to have a physical card, it can be a virtual card, something that many users use to make purchases over the Internet, such as prepaid cards that recharge to have a separate card, with a limited amount of money, in case of any attempted fraud.

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The advantage of having different cards associated with this Wallet is the possibility of choosing which of them we pay at any time. In addition, the wallet facilitates the creation of targeted deals to customers. And is that the businesses can create different promotions that are applied at the time of payment. In this way, the loyalty card is also integrated in this device with the advantages it has for customers and companies.