Metallic cards will drive the growth of financial technologies in the world.
Today, the target consumer of metal cards has changed. This is due to the needs of segmentation and differentiation, which point to a process of premiumization of the mass consumer base. Among them are millennials, a segment highly desired by fintechs. Fintechs in Europe and the United Kingdom, among others, seem to have contributed to promoting the issuance of metal cards, as a factor of uniqueness and differentiation, integrating the latest technologies to innovate and compete with offers from traditional banks.
Metal cards are attractive to fintech companies for many reasons. The metal card not only has the «look and feel» that the customer is looking for in a product, but also creates a high emotional connection where the customer has the feeling of being part of a premium community. The premiumization effect associated with specific brand-related benefits is key to a unique customer experience. Metal cards are a differentiation that combines digital services with an attractive physical product. Metallic cards contribute to creating a notion of status, they become «top-of-wallet». They raise fintech brand positioning and customer perception: they drive higher transaction volume and spending, increase customer retention and, in a virtuous circle, can contribute to new customer acquisition.
Latin America is following the example of European fintechs, where the business cases point to the adoption of metal cards as a successful driver of business growth. Latin American fintechs could define their own product innovation offer, according to the specificities and ecosystems of their regional and local markets. Metal cards could be a key driver for disrupting the status quo, especially in a region where the millennial population segment is high, and where differentiation and the cool factor are important.