You’ve seen the ads for Capital One, and now other cards like Wells Fargo offer your choice of uploaded image.
I would have loved one a decade or so ago, when you used to hand your card to people. But now with self-swipe machines and wave-past machines, the photo card seems irrelevant.
I felt the same way in the late '80s when I first printed customized computer checks with my own artwork. And then immediately stopped handing them to clerks and switched entirely to debit cards or quaint old cash.
I just got a picture of my dog when she was a puppy put on my debit card. You’re right - a lot of the time you swipe it yourself, so noone but you sees it. But that’s OK by me, I still like looking at it!
And there are still places that do it for you. Restaurants, for example. And smaller stores, where they don’t have the do-it-yourself machines yet. I’ve gotten at least a few “OMG look at that puppy!” comments in the month or so I’ve had it.
I don’t want or need photos on my credit/debit cards. I belong to 2 credit unions and have a debit and credit at each. All four cards are different colors. That works just fine for me.
There is so much evil about the way credit card companies target consumers that these custom card ads make me want to link this thread with the one about people who contribute nothing productive to society. I think I’d rather wear a tee shirt printed “WELCOME” than have one of these cards.
I agree that credit card companies are in it for the money. But not everyone is totally negligent about using them. My personalized card is hooked to my checking account, not credit, and is WAY better than writing checks all the time.
Not everyone abuses credit cards. I wouldn’t agree that they contribute nothing productive to society. They can be immensely helpful when used responsibly.
About 15 years ago I had a credit card with my photo on it. It wasn’t marketed as a design feature but as a security one. The photo had to be a headshot of the cardholder–no cute puppies, etc . I thought it made some sense, in that a clerk would be more likely to notice the card being used by someone who looked nothing like the picture. But they discontinued the program years ago. And obviously there are many ways the card can be used, especially now, without anyone seeing the picture.
Actually, I still have one of those cards - Citibank, right? I don’t think that they still offer the program, but every time they send me a new card they always include the picture. It’s even survived through a voluntary name change and an involuntary switch from Visa to Mastercard.
I’ve never understood why it didn’t catch on, as I’ve used it as a second form of picture ID countless times, and clerks often comment on what a great idea it is.
Oh, no, I didn’t mean it that way - it’s the credit card companies I disagree with, not the consumers.
I understand from friends that have worked in the credit card industry that the companies try very hard to design policies and systems that get consumers trapped and paying penalties and the like, and spend many millions figuring out how to do this.
Take the “Minnesota carpenter” model, for example. This is a credit card user that has a pretty good job much of the time, so he doesn’t completely default or go bankrupt, but he has enough poor seasons when the work dries up that he winds up maxing the card out and starting to incur the penalties. If you look at this situation on the basis of right this minute, in July, the Minnesota carpenter is making good progress and sending them plenty of money, and if you look in December he is running the balance up again so his kids can have Christmas presents. Either of these sounds benign enough. The trouble is, he’s going to have a balance of 2 or 5 or 10 or 20 thousand, on average, all the time. Year after year. In the long term, these things are a cancer, just eating away at him. The credit card companies have big teams of statisticians and programmers and others whose job it is to figure out how to identify “Minnesota carpenter” types, and attract and hook them and bleed them dry long term without quite killing most of them. The purpose is NOT to help people or to encourage responsible borrowing, it is absolutely to trap consumers. The deck is completely stacked against the consumer in this game.
Anybody who uses credit cards in a way that overall benefits them in their life is doing great, and I tip my hat to them. But they are not the consumers credit card companies are trying to serve, any more than the healthy robust young people in cigarette advertisements are typical of the people that give tobacco companies their profits.
I can’t be bothered. Couldn’t be bothered with checks either. I just need something that does what it is supposed to.
But I don’t mind that some people have/want them. I think the commercials advertising them are silly - but I think the adverts that make fun of them are silly too.
I’d like to know if anyone has ever tried to upload porn to get it printed on a credit card. Because of this risk I presume the images have to be screened for approval. I’m sure they’d also frown on copyrighted images, and for jokers who think they’re being funny, anything with a competing bank’s logo.