According to a study by the Banque de France published in 2018, the French are the largest users of bank cards in Europe. Although cash payments remain the majority, a third of payments are made by bank card, proof of the French’s attachment to this mode of transaction. The look of this handy plastic rectangle has changed in recent years, as noted by MoneyVoxin a survey published Monday February 12, 2024. Indeed, the well-known style, with its 16 identification numbers embossed on the front, tends to disappear. A way to give a more modern and refined image. While this series of “embossed” numbers makes your bank card unique, we would now find it on the back, on the back and without relief. Our colleagues observed this change by analyzing three banks: BNP Paribas, La Banque Postale and Fortuneo. But other banks have taken the step of changing their look, including La Banque Populaire, Caisse d’Épargne and Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale.
The technological innovations of new bank cards
So what do the new bank cards look like? From now on, more and more banking establishments offer models with a refined face where only the name of the issuing bank, the bearer, the logo of the acceptance network (Visa, Mastercard, etc.), and the anti-counterfeiting hologram appear. and the chip for contactless. At the back, we find the 16 identification digits but also the expiry date for example. Certain elements have become obsolete, such as the black magnetic strip or the signature block, which are increasingly disappearing. Conversely, more original models integrate certain features, such as a notch to help visually impaired people hold their bank card in the right direction, or aesthetic elements – metal cards made of metal for example, or recycled plastic. Fintechs are developing new technologies to evolve bank cards, with models that integrate fingerprint sensors. A specificity which should not be widely developed in the short term due to the high cost of biometric cards.