Fintech startup Sentry Enterprises has announced its “Radiance” platform, which integrates flexible OLED light panels into credit and debit cards. When making contactless payments, Part of the card lights up and essentially serves as visual confirmation of payment.
For banks and card issuers, Sentry says the lighting feature can build customer loyalty and drive more payments by offering a “modern” card that gets people talking. Issuers may choose to brighten or animate their logos in a conspicuous manner.
The panels use traditional plastic construction, but are replaced by a flexible OLED lighting panel from manufacturer Konica Minolta. The Japanese company has been working for years to commercialize its foldable lighting technology for such applications.
Up to the present, Radiance OLED cards can be issued on Visa and Mastercard payment networks. Sentry says it is also exploring the possibility of launching its own branded board to highlight its lighting capabilities.
The question, of course, is whether anyone really needs a credit card to go beyond innovation. The addition of electronics and foldable displays increases complexity and points of failure that regular plastic boards do not have. Credit cards already have built-in chips and basic payment lights. Therefore, digital displays that animate or vibrate during operations may be considered unnecessary., but this may be of interest to some customers. Time will tell whether these famous OLED credit cards will find a place in the market.
