PASADENA, Calif. - Just eight weeks after introducing its “IMAGINE THAT!” picture card program that allows members to personalize their plastic cards with their own photos, Wescom CU has seen more than 2,800 images submitted for plalcement on members’ Visa cards.
Kathy Warner, Wescom’s director of card services, told the Credit Union Journal not only has the program been popular, it has had remarkably few glitches. “The implementation was surprisingly smooth,” she recalled. “It was complicated to put all the pieces together because five different partners had to be involved–one that hosted the images, one that processed the images, and others that helped get the cards out the door. Each player has its own part. We had to write the interface for eBranch [Wescom’s online banking platform] to allow the member to make a request. We transmit a request to our credit card processor, who then contacts Serverside, the image software provider, to obtain the picture. We make sure we are not passing sensitive data back and forth that can be linked to the credit card account.”
No Problems So Far
“Since it rolled out to members, we haven’t had any problems at all,” she said. “No members have complained it is hard to use or anything, which is surprising.”
Wescom tested the picture card program on its employees for about two weeks prior to unveiling it to members. Warner said one minor issue that was resolved during this beta phase was the darkness of the CU’s logo. She said if someone were to upload a dark image, the logo would be invisible. To fix this potential problem, Wescom put its logo in a shadow box.
“We can’t control what someone is going to upload, but we want the elements of the card to be visible,” she said. “With the shadow, the logo works with a light or a dark background.”
Wescom’s “Signature Members” get their first personalized credit and check card free, while all other members pay $9.95 per card. Warner said approximately 15% of members have chosen an image from the library, rather than using their own photos to personalize their cards.
“It really has been one of the most rewarding projects I’ve done, because members just seem to love it,” Warner said. “And not only are the members loving it, when you go out and use your card, people love it. One of our managers uses his card at a Starbucks, and whenever he does the employees grab it and run around with it because it has a nice picture of his family.
“It is very heartwarming,” she continued. “I was concerned at the beginning about what types of pictures we might get. I thought some people would put on risqué photos, but that has not happened.”
A Few Images Denied
Wescom has had to deny a few submitted images, but Warner said those were due to copyright infringement issues. For example, people wanted to use Lakers star Kobe Bryant’s picture, or images depicting Mickey Mouse, Coca-Cola or other brands. In addition, she said some people wanted to upload their business cards, which Wescom decided was too close to advertising and too much of a conflict.
“It can be a picture of a member’s kids at Disneyland, as long as it is their kids and the background just happens to be Disneyland. But it can’t be a picture promoting Disneyland.”
Wescom’s members are “really creative,” Warner said. The image software allows users to submit drawings instead of pictures, as long as the artwork does not violate Wescom’s standards.
“One person even submitted a drawing of a monster,” she reported. “Teenagers are particularly creative–one girl took her friends’ photos and collected them into a collage and put them into a heart. Other people put out paint splatterings in all different colors and made it into a design. There have been so many, but the ones that get to you are the babies. People dress them up really cute.”
Wescom serves more than 315,000 members through 56 branches in seven Southern California counties.
