The Schererville, Ind.-based Advance Financial Federal CreditUnion announced last month that it began issuing a new VisaEMV debit card with a vertical orientation – a rebelliousgraphic design maneuver highlighting some of the pros and cons ofquite literally “upending” a long-standing industry tradition ofhorizontal card design.

“We wanted a new look that would take advantage of our verycontemporary color palate and because the design is vertical informat, we'd be reinforcing our philosophy of being 'AlwaysAhead,'” Advance Financial President/CEO Jerry Gomez said. “The newlook and design will provide that important 'top of wallet'appearance that all cards seek to achieve. I believe we are thefirst in our marketplace to go vertical.”

The card was designed by Advance Financial's marketing communications partner, Yale Gordon & Associates.Advance Financial has $144 million in assets and about 15,000members.

Vertical credit and debit cards are an option for most creditunion issuers, but pros say there are four things to keep in mind before rotating those cards 90 degrees.

1. Remember that cards are more than justplastic.

They're also marketing vehicles, said Troy Bernard, who isdirector of strategic marketing and products at CPI Card Group,which is a card production and services company based in Littleton,Colo.

“I'm a believer that it is difficult for financial institutionsin general to differentiate themselves from their competitors,” hesaid. “The payment card is a credit union's most critical brandreminder – one that its members potentially see every day. Theyshould use that real estate and creative design to their advantageand make their card and brand stand out as much as possible.”

When those cards go out, there's also an opportunity to talkabout increased security, Michelle Thornton, director of productdevelopment at CO-OP Financial Services, said.

“I think it's a real marketing and branding opportunity. Everymarketing and branding opportunity is a good thing. All of thosethings are incremental to improving in a wallet share,” shesaid.

2. Not everybody “gets it.”

Vertical orientations can confuse some cardholders and cashiers,but the risk is minimal, Bernard said.

“Some in the industry have claimed that given the transition toEMV and the way cards must be inserted in the EMV terminal, itmakes sense to vertically print cards – the vertical orientation ismore compatible and would make the card easier to read. Butvertical cards would need to be printed in the opposite directionof the AFFCU card to deliver that convenience,” he added.

“While a credit union can always choose to place the accountnumber on the back in the horizontal format, the sheer change ofputting it on the short edge of the face of a vertical card cancontribute to confusion,” Megan Bogard, senior designer at CPI CardGroup, added. “Additionally, if introducing vertical cards mayalign with their business needs, credit unions should first givesome thought to the types of terminals their local customers andprospects are most likely using their cards in and if their targetaudience would be receptive to it.”

3. Vertical cards arerare.

Vertical cards aren't a new idea in the financial servicesindustry, but they're still relatively uncommon, according toBogard. That's part of the draw, she added.

“[Differentiation] is the biggest advantage. Especially whenconsidering card personalization and the different things possiblewith the vertical orientation. Of course, assuming thepersonalization occurs on the face of the card, a flat style willbe required, and the numbers can be printed in a smaller scale toaccommodate the design, while the mag stripe and chip remain intheir standard places,” she explained. “Offering customers suchvertically oriented personalization capabilities can certainly be abig differentiator for credit unions.”

Vertical layouts don't necessarily cost more, but finding theresources to put behind the effort is still a factor for manycredit unions, Thornton noted.

“I think it has to do with how progressive the credit union is.I think sometimes it has to do with size, because if you have anactual full-blown marketing department as opposed to somebody who'sdoing marketing as well as everything else for the really tinycredit unions, you'll have people who are really focusing on brandand lifting that brand,” she said.

4. Good luck trying to measure the return on goingvertical.

“For some things it's hard to find hard data to support whereyou're going. You just have to believe that repeated occurrences ofyour brand, or however you want to look at that, is going to make adifference,” Thornton said.

Members might like the novel look of vertical cards – but thatwon't necessarily drive card use, according to Thornton.

“Once you've used the card once, the way the design looks whenyou're putting it into the reader, I'm not sure that that mattersmaterially. They might think it's cool. Will it mean their card isnow top of wallet when it wasn't before? Not sure. It certainly isthat, from a branding and marketing perspective, it fits,obviously, with the way we use our cards today. But if you thinkabout it, we've been swiping vertically for years,” she said.