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Designer Credit
A Japanese company has created a series of 100 designer VISA cards. These credit cards are just as much fun to look at as they are to spend with. |
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 Cookies and chocolate, as tempting as money |
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They give us advances when we’re strapped for cash, allow us to make it from pay-check to pay-check without having to beg Mom to bail us out, and, thanks to them, we can own things we’d never buy if we had to pay cash. For some, the almighty credit card has become a synonym of happiness… while for others they are nothing more than the material manifestation of a giant debt with the bank. Whatever the case, the credit card has become a must-have accessory in our wallets. Many can no longer live without one.
Although VISA is the best known, the first credit card was called Diner’s Club. It was created in 1949 after Frank McNamara, head of the “Hamilton Credit Corporation” took some friends out to lunch only to realize upon receiving the check that he wasn’t carrying any cash. He had to call his wife and ask her to bring his wallet to the restaurant.
Following this incident, McNamara swore this would never happen to him again and he came up with the idea of creating the credit card, a new payment method that introduced an intermediary between companies and their clients. The first credit cards were made of cardboard and were accepted in just 14 New York restaurants. In 1950, there were 2,000 credit cards in circulation around the city. Today, the average family has 5 credit cards. So, you’re a rare bird if you haven’t got one.
If so many people carry one in their wallet, why not give them a more decorative design? Most credit cards are rather plain and simply reproduce the bank’s logo along with the symbol for Visa, Mastercard or Amex. Although some banks, such as the spanish La Caixa, offer clients the chance to design their own cards, this is not common practice.
The Epos credit card company has been the first to realize that many young people would decide where to open an account based exclusively on the credit card’s design. Japanese department store Marui Co has organized a project in collaboration with Visa to create a series of 100 designer credit cards. The aim is that clients should enjoy not just spending with the cards, but also looking at their pretty designs.
“Just as we put special care into choosing our clothing, why not take care in choosing the design of your credit cards? It’s something you carry around all the time.” With this in mind, they launched an original collection of credit cards created by designers from all around the world. The cards are targeted at clients in their twenties and thirties, since they believe this age group is more interested in design and more likely to appreciate one-of-a-kind products.
The 100 designer credit cards are considered miniature works of art. That’s why, on the Epos website, each model appears in a frame and includes information about the designer. The designer credit cards will also be on display in some shopping centers around Japan and in Tokyo’s mayor subway stations.
Even Mr. McNamara would have to give them credit...
Via Today & Tomorrow
LinkEpos Cards
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