With consumers’ growing demand for instant payments, convenience, and immediacy, instant issuance just makes sense. Providing a personalized, on-demand, active debit and credit card that promotes top-of-wallet use as well as boosts security—instead of making consumers wait for their card to arrive in the mail—can be a game-changer. By offering this service, financial institutions are doing more to potentially help solidify a long-term relationship with their customers.

In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Rob Dixon, VP of Digital and Business Development at CPI, and Brian Riley, Director of Credit and Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discuss what instant issuance is, why financial institutions should offer it, and why offering more sustainable options for customers is a forward-looking, strategic move.

PaymentsJournalAdopting Instant Issuance Programs Give FIs a Competitive EdgePaymentsJournal Adopting Instant Issuance Programs Give FIs a Competitive EdgePaymentsJournaljQuery(document).ready(function ($){var settings_ap72847558 = { design_skin: "skin-wave" ,autoplay: "off",disable_volume:"default" ,loop:"off" ,cue: "on" ,embedded: "off" ,preload_method:"metadata" ,design_animateplaypause:"off" ,skinwave_dynamicwaves:"off" ,skinwave_enableSpectrum:"off" ,skinwave_enableReflect:"on",settings_backup_type:"full",playfrom:"default",soundcloud_apikey:"" ,skinwave_comments_enable:"off",settings_php_handler:window.ajaxurl,skinwave_wave_mode:"canvas",pcm_data_try_to_generate: "on","pcm_notice": "off","notice_no_media": "on",design_color_bg: "111111",design_color_highlight: "ef6b13",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_number: "3",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_padding: "1",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_reflection_size: "0.25",skinwave_comments_playerid:"72847558",php_retriever:"https://www.paymentsjournal.com/wp-content/plugins/dzs-zoomsounds/soundcloudretriever.php" }; try{ dzsap_init(".ap_idx_438568_29",settings_ap72847558); }catch(err){ console.warn("cannot init player", err); } });

What is Instant Issuance?

Instant issuance programs can help financial institutions gain a competitive edge, giving their customers instant access to their card of choice, thereby reducing incidences of lost cards and promoting increased spending. But what is instant issuance?

Dixon explains:

“Instant issuance really is the ability for a cardholder to walk into a branch or another facility and walk out with a fully capable card, being able to transact anywhere that the cardholder wants to.”

And it’s not just any run-of-the-mill card that these FIs are offering via instant issuance. Dixon said that many of the current instant issuance programs provide EMV or dual interface contactless cards, as well as a multitude of substrates (recycled plastic cards, traditional PVC, and some wood cards).

But as Riley points out, having an instant issuance program is more than just getting a card on demand.

“That card really reinforces the brand,” Riley said. “Getting into instant issuance is important because you’re really at the height of the relationship.

“This is your core contact with the customer, whether they’re opening an account of one sort or another. Having the ability to get that (card) right away really keeps the momentum of that relationship going.”

Why FIs Should Offer Instant Issuance

When FIs eliminate the lag time between issuance and the  customer’s receipt and activation of their card, the customer is more likely to use the card sooner and more often.