Armed Polite Society

Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: zxcvbob on June 03, 2019, 12:30:57 AM

Title: Steel credit cards
Post by: zxcvbob on June 03, 2019, 12:30:57 AM
My Chase/Amazon credit card starting coming delaminated.  It still worked okay but I was having trouble sometimes fitting it in the slots of card readers, so I reported it damaged and got a new card.  The new one arrived yesterday, and it included a business reply envelop to send the old one back for safe destruction.  I thought that was stupid; I'll just cut up the old card myself.  The old card looked like it had a foil layer in it.  Nope.  The whole card was steel (probably stainless, but it was magnetic) with a plastic coating on the front.  All the good stuff was on the back, embrossed in the steel.  So I cut it up with tin snips and threw the pieces in the trash, but even that wasn't easy.  That's why they sent the envelop.

I've never noticed such thing before.  Today at the Chinese restaurant, the checkout girl dropped the card and when it went "clink" on the counter she commented how heavy it was.

ETA: actually, it was more of a "thunk" :)
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: BobR on June 03, 2019, 12:44:10 AM
Hmmm, I wonder how well they would hold an edge?


bob
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: zxcvbob on June 03, 2019, 12:49:00 AM
Hmmm, I wonder how well they would hold an edge?

bob

I wish I'd thought of that before I destroyed it.  But probably not very well.
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: 230RN on June 03, 2019, 07:27:10 AM
Hmmm, I wonder how well they would hold an edge?


bob

Busted a gut over that one.  Good thing I only had a half cup of coffee on the way to my mouth.

Now I gotta change my jammies.

Mine are still plastic.  I wonder how well a steel one would shield itself and other cards next to it from remote card reader intrusions.

Wet-crotch Terry
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: K Frame on June 03, 2019, 07:55:37 AM
Never knew that they were making cards out of metal, and have been since 1999.

Good article on it: https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/no-annual-fee-metal-credit-cards.php

I guess now it really is a charge plate (one of the old names for credit cards WAY back in their infancy).
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: HankB on June 03, 2019, 08:08:17 AM
Hmmm . . . I think I'll check out the construction next time I get a new card . . . not sure it would be a good idea to feed an armored card through the card slot on my shredder.
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: WLJ on June 03, 2019, 08:17:00 AM
Received a metal Chase/Amazon oh maybe three years ago. When I first picked it up like I was this is different.
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: K Frame on June 03, 2019, 08:37:06 AM
Hmmm . . . I think I'll check out the construction next time I get a new card . . . not sure it would be a good idea to feed an armored card through the card slot on my shredder.

Word.

I accidentally dropped a penny into my shredder a couple of years go. It actually started to shred it before it jammed.

I had to pull the whole thing apart to get the penny dislodged. I was afraid that it had bent the cutting teeth, but it worked perfectly, and continues to do so.
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: Ben on June 03, 2019, 09:08:18 AM
Hmmm . . . I think I'll check out the construction next time I get a new card . . . not sure it would be a good idea to feed an armored card through the card slot on my shredder.

I was unaware of steel credit cards. I'd seen them as "special order" fancy cards, but had no idea they incorporated metal into standard credit cards. I have always sent mine through the shredder, so I guess I've not had one yet. I need to make a note to check from now on.
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: MillCreek on June 03, 2019, 10:02:40 AM
All of my credit and debit cards over the years, and there have been a lot of them, have been plastic, with the characteristic look and weight.  I had no idea that metal cards were a thing.
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: cordex on June 03, 2019, 10:37:19 AM
I have one that I don't use often.

You can definitely notice a difference.
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: Brad Johnson on June 03, 2019, 11:25:11 AM
I just got a new Chase card. Metal core clad in some kind of plastic overlay.

Brad
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: HeroHog on June 03, 2019, 02:55:37 PM
I want a Platinum VISA...
Title: Re: Steel credit cards
Post by: MechAg94 on June 03, 2019, 04:41:02 PM
I want a Platinum VISA...
The annual fee might be a bit high.