Article

Instant Card Issuance: The Complete Business Case for Adoption

happy young business woman holding a new credit or debit card
By Renee Jones

3 minutes

Three concrete benefits of implementing this technology.

Sponsored by Harland Clarke

Imagine how satisfied your customers would be if they could walk into a branch, open a new account and walk out with their new debit or credit card in their wallet, ready for activation and use.

With instant card issuance, this could become a reality.

Adopting a new technology can be daunting for organizations both large and small, but with so many concrete benefits for your financial institution and your customers, instant issuance is a win-win. Below are three major reasons why.

Instant Issuance Is Better for Business

Instant issuance leads to increased use of mobile deposit, which equals cost savings for branches.

Instant issued cards also see higher activation and usage rates, which can be as high as 89 percent. Customers are using their cards within hours, rather than days which means instant gratification and better account holder experience. In fact, instant issued cards are used on average within the first 93 minutes of activation, compared to within the first 10 days as with standard issue.

Instant issuance allows credit unions and community banks to affordably offer the same custom card services as larger financial institutions, a factor that influences account holder decision-making. Among all debit card users, 36 percent say instant issuance would influence their choice of financial institution—a number that jumps to 47 percent for 18- to 24-year-olds. 

Save Costs With Cloud-Based Technology

Implementing a new software-for-purchase solution often means expensive up-front and licensing costs, complicated infrastructure changes, dedicated IT resources and numerous upgrades.

In contrast, Card@Once instant issuance is a software-as-a-service solution that uses cloud-based computing. This means that financial institutions only need to invest in the card printer and otherwise can be up and running with just an internet connection and a web browser. From there, the cloud-based service provider handles all updates, security and maintenance.

SaaS is an efficient solution that offers such benefits as:

  • rapid deployment;
  • minimal staff training;
  • increased productivity;
  • minimal IT overhead;
  • lower operating costs; and
  • improved security and scalability.

This puts instant issuance within reach of both large financial institutions as well as smaller credit unions and community banks.

Enhance the Onboarding and Member Experience 

Instant issuance naturally leads to an improved customer experience, but it can also make for more successful onboarding as well.

Instant issuance keeps the new account holder dialogue active much more efficiently than standard card issuance, which can put distance between you and your customers at a crucial selling stage. This active dialogue makes the contact strategy and insight collection of onboarding more seamless and effective.

When customers receive their cards in-branch, this gives you an immediate opportunity to earn trust and build engagement, which lays the foundation for deepening the relationship with customers by engaging them in sticky services and other products.

Instant issuance naturally builds account holder loyalty, which can lead members to become brand advocates, providing free, organic marketing for your financial institution.

Want more information on instant issuance? Click here to download “13 Critical Questions to Ask Instant Issuance Providers in Your RFP” from Harland Clarke.

Renee Jones is product manager, card services, for CUES Supplier member Harland Clarke, Atlanta.

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