Everyone knows you’re not supposed to care what your credit card looks like, it’s the rewards that matter! Except that part of being human is that the look and feel of people, places and things matters quite a lot. So it appeals to us in ways we’re not quite comfortable admitting.
The Atlantic has a new piece arguing that metal cards have completed the status-symbol life cycle:
- Rare and genuinely distinctive: The Amex Centurion’s titanium card conveyed exclusivity because almost nobody had one.
- Aspirational: Chase Sapphire Reserve brought the experience to affluent mass-market consumers in 2016.
- Ubiquitous: Now no annual fee cards are metal, while premium issuers resort to mirrors, polishing cloths, aircraft aluminum, and solid gold.
- Self-parody: This investment in physical cards doesn’t even matter as much as payments move increasingly digital.
The piece argues that digital payments may be helping rather than killing the investment in physical cards, because once it’s no longer needed as a payment tool, it becomes an ornament, collectible, and social media prop. I’m not sure that’s right, and the piece overemphasizes the importance of metal.
- Amex Platinum isn’t successful because of metal, you can pocket over $3,000 in rebates for your $800 fee and you don’t even need to put your regular spend on the card to do this.
- Bilt Palladium isn’t a strong card because of the mirror finish option and microfiber cloth, it’s a points beast that earns the most valuable points and earns them faster than other cards.
- Sapphire Reserve made a splash a decade ago because it earned 3x on travel and dining, came with a Priority Pass, and rebated most of the card’s annual fee with an easy-to-use travel card.
Still, given hundreds of billions in potential charge volume that’s on the line, premium issuers spending an extra $15 per card is cheap insurance in case it moves the needle even at the margin. And given cardmember acquisition costs in the thousands, an extra $15 per approved cardmember becomes a rounding error even if it’s a significant investment across all cards in a portfolio.
The piece is right that metal is table stakes and even unnecessary, and that generating real value from the physical card requires taste and ingenuity. Metal itself was cool in 2009, when George Clooney plunked down his carbon fiber ConciergeKey card in a hotel lounge in Up in the Air and Vera Farmiga declared it “sexy.”
It was even still cool when it was still rare circa 2013-2014. Now, metal communicates nothing when a no annual fee Amazon card has the same weight as Sapphire Reserve.
Anyone that gets excited over metal itself is probably seen as gauche. Premium cards have leaned more into design and this is something to be appreciated by the cardholder, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying holding pretty things, but not so much something to impress minimum wage store clerks with.
A mirror design, at least, still stands out (although now has ‘been done’ just a year later). In the first couple of months that it was available, half a million Amex Platinum cardmembers requested the mirror version of the card last year.
Now Bilt has mirror, too. Any additional uses of the concept simply seem derivative.
So what else works? American Express reaped real praise for its limited-edition Delta card made with a bit of Boeing 747 metal.
- Metal now brings something that once conferred status to a no annual fee price point
- Mass affluent status requires taking something that’s become commonplace and elevating it with design, not just heft
Some issuers have let consumers customize the design of the card but that can lead to controversy when they choose designs that are polarizing or contrary to the issuer’s values. It’s also controversial when telling consumers they can design their card any way they want, except for the way that they want.
These are the 10 heaviest generally available cards I’m aware of, with data from U.S. Credit Card Guide. As a benchmark, a non-metal card clocks in at about 5mg.
| Rank | Card | Weight | ||
| 1 | J.P. Morgan Reserve | 27g | ||
| 1 | Robinhood Platinum | 27g | ||
| 3 | Luxury Card Mastercard Gold | 22g | ||
| 4 | Bilt Palladium | 21g | ||
| 5 | Citi Strata Elite | 19g | ||
| 6 | Citi Prestige | 18g | ||
| 6 | Citi AAdvantage Executive | 18g | ||
| 8 | Amex Centurion | 17g | ||
| 8 | Amex Platinum | 17g | ||
| 8 | Capital One Venture X | 17g |
These cards are more difficult to dispose of. One reader used a blow torch rather than returning his card to Chase. But how often do you dispose of a credit card? I’m not sure it’s often enough to matter.
I think my favorite comments when Bilt came out with the mirror finish on its Palladium card – and included a microfiber cloth to polish it in the package – were “A polishing cloth for my credit card. I swear to God we are in some bad bad times as a society” and “Of all the things Bilt has struggled with, showmanship is not one of them.”
When everyone’s cards are metal, it’s no longer driving share shift and becomes purely defensive. You don’t want your cards to look cheap!
There’s a sense that if you are going to charge $395, $795, or $895 for a credit card it can’t just be a piece of plastic. I don’t think metal helps so much as avoids ‘looking cheap’ the way older cards do by comparison. The investment avoids a negative rather than driving positive association. I have never once felt that I ‘couldn’t wait’ to pull out my Venture X card… except at their New York JFK lounge and their New York LaGuardia and Washington National Landings, but that’s for access and not spending, and you can pull up the equivalent ‘lounge pass’ in their mobile app instead.
Nonetheless, card issuers do get some free social media distribution out of unboxing videos of fancy cards – plus weight comparisons, drop tests, and numerous “what’s in my wallet?” posts (itself a callback to Capital One).
Forget the mirror — I want a Bilt card with Gary’s face on it!
It should be more like what is in my wallet that is going to trigger the metal detector at the airport…
How many times do I pull out a card?
1. When I can’t remember the full 16-digits sitting at my computer paying for a purchase.
2. When my iPhone doesn’t work at a POS terminal.
3. When entering a Sapphire lounge. (My Amex Plat is hard coded to my DL SkyMiles account.)
In short, almost never. The idea of a physical card showing anything is so 20th century.
Metal weighs the wallet down and some are too thick. Just give me thin plastic and no one sees the cards anymore. TAP HERE PLEASE.
BTW – both Chase and Amex provide a postage paid envelope to return the old card for recycling.
I don’t want heavy dark metal. Make my premium card as light as possible, as thin as possible, and a bright enough color that I won’t accidently leave it behind after paying.
What’s nice about the metal cards is that you can sharpen one corner with a whetstone. Now you always have an improvised box cutter with you, or if a sales clerk is being a jerk, you can accidentally hand them the sharp end first. When they complain about the gash in their hand, you can just shrug your shoulders and say, “That’s the way I received the card”.
I’m just kidding! At least on handing the sharp end to the clerk.
@Thing 1 – that might actually move the needle for me !!
+1 @Thing 1!
Biggest issue for me is airport security. It took me a while after having these cards to realize it wasn’t my Apple Watch, belt or coins in my pocket triggering the metal detector, but the cards in my wallet. And maybe it’s less of a big deal than I think, as I’m always able to retrieve my wallet at the other end, but even parting with it for a minute or two, especially in an area crowded with folks that are strangers to me, makes me nervous.
As for the mirror card, I had the Amex one for a hot minute – kept it for a couple of months when it was [quite literally] the shiny new thing. But after that, I replaced it with the version that was the mostly recycled plastic – theoretically better for the environment, but easier to dispose of and I can take through airport security. Now to call Chase ans Cap1 to get those metal cards replaced…
It’s clearly time to bring back the mini credit cards (remember those from 20+ years ago…) that used to attach to a keychain ring. Make them tap only (no swipe, no insert chip, no card number…) and can make them in lots of either premium or fun designs.
For example, Taiwan’s metro has tons of cute keychains that work as metro cards – can tap those instead of your phone / a traditional rectangular card.
Folks carry phones and keys, and you can’t feel premium tapping a phone, so…
It’s ridiculous, please go back to regular plastic! These are heavier to carry, difficult to dispose of, and they can’t be scanned except in a flatbed scanner.
I can’t even imagine the psychology of anyone who thinks a metal card is a good idea.
I’m still hoping for a renewed outrageous name craze. The industry has covered precious metals, gems, exotic metals (titanium isn’t really exotic, but it’s special), how about some fun with the periodic table, starting with the Lanthanide and Actinide Series? Promethium Plus? Einsteinium Elite?
Who’s gonna be the first to market with over the top wordsalad such as
“Unobtanium Moonrock Infinite Prestige Super Duper Exclusive?”
You know, I’d pay an annual fee if I could get a card with “Centuwion in the Wo-man We-gion” on it. The laughs from slapping that puppy down on a bar would be so worth it!
@L737 — No sock-drawer for the card with the thot-leader. That card needs to breathe; in-wallet. 10/10.
@1990 — Indeed, an exclusive edition for using Gary’s links!
@L737 — There is truly no better sign-up-bonus than to use a VFTW link… *cough* … my only regret is that the weekend is now over, and I must wait another 4 days until Citi Nights℠, 6x ThankYou® Points on dining, after 6PM EST on Fridays and Saturdays, with the Citi Strata Elite℠ World Legend Mastercard… use Gary’s link for a (wait a minute, 75K bonus? What?? It used to be 100K!)
You can use the mirror card to see if you have to comb your hair. Cap1 also sends a return envelop.
Metal is a carnival charm that appeals to the low IQ crowd. Get rid of heavy metal and go back to lightweight plastics. Lighter in wallet and I don’t have to remove it when I go through airport security
In the interest of saving the planet from plastic, is silicone usable for credit cards?
I have the Bilt Palladium, Citi Prestige and Citi AAdvantage Executive. The Bilt Palladium is comically thick. The mirror finish is not understated. The Citi Prestige card is “metal” but the lamination is obvious. The AAdvantage card with the AA 100 year anniversary on it is pretty cool and seems durable. Citi Prestige is the only physical card I regularly carry with me.
And sadly, its oddly hard to get a plastic version still…
– Alaska Atmos Summit card – BofA (after 5 mins of the agent researching) “I can’t even find any thing about getting a plastic version”
– Sapphire Preferred – Chase “No we dont currently offer a plastic version, but I know it does get requested”
– CS Platinum – Amex “It doesn’t let me select a plastic card option, although an additional user card would be plastic – I know its offered for the regular Platinum card, but not Charles Schwab.”
@Joseph — It’s spelled ‘thicc.’
I personally carry 1,5 & 8, and you left off Ritz which is also useful for Chase lounges.
But this analysis misses the point. I could care less about appearance but
I’m all about practicality.
And I’m sick and tired of replacing all the cheap plastic cards in my everyday lineup (yes that’s Chase Ink, Amex Blue+ & Cap1 Spark miles) because yes, there are many merchants (and machines) that still require swipe, not tap. So these cards get destroyed and unusable in a NY minute. And then I have to replace them with new card with a new CVN and new exp dates which is a PITA for stored card info.
So yes – give me metal or something more durable than cheapo plastic if you want me to carry & use the card.
@Boraxo — “in a NY minute,” you say. Ironically, most things in NYC are tap these days, so maybe your physical card would last longer up here. Bah!
My Costco Citi Visa is disintegrating with 2 years until renewal. I wish it was as durable as the metal Amex Platinum.
The Apple card is titanium
We’ve got over a.Kilo (2.2#) and $500+ in Card issuers “investment in metal cards in our dead card shoe box.
The menagerie cluster of various dead AU/PC/Rewals/Card style changes (yes I have all four versions of the Plat (to easy distinguish when using the Plat coupons and Amex Offers/Resy/Lulu/Saks(rip)/FHR check-in as well.as Biz Plat in Mirror.
I do wish I had PCd to DL Biz Reserve for the 747 last year (and before) but alas both had a poor upgrade offers attached, but I do have both versions of DBP/DBR (recent PC for P1/P2) also have both CSR versions (the new launched at refresh again to distinguish for CSR coupn use.
Again nothing to get excited about -as most of use digital wallets – except for Hotel desks – but typically the CC machine is self.tap/chip-read.
I do carry for travel/EDC in a Nomatoc Slim Wallet – Minimalist Card Holder.