The Schererville, Ind.-based Advance Financial Federal Credit Union announced last month that it began issuing a new Visa EMV debit card with a vertical orientation – a rebellious graphic design maneuver highlighting some of the pros and cons of quite literally “upending” a long-standing industry tradition of horizontal card design.

“We wanted a new look that would take advantage of our very contemporary color palate and because the design is vertical in format, we'd be reinforcing our philosophy of being 'Always Ahead,'” Advance Financial President/CEO Jerry Gomez said. “The new look and design will provide that important 'top of wallet' appearance that all cards seek to achieve. I believe we are the first 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 15,000 members.

Vertical credit and debit cards are an option for most credit union 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 just plastic.

They're also marketing vehicles, said Troy Bernard, who is director 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 institutions in general to differentiate themselves from their competitors,” he said. “The payment card is a credit union's most critical brand reminder – one that its members potentially see every day. They should use that real estate and creative design to their advantage and make their card and brand stand out as much as possible.”

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

“I think it's a real marketing and branding opportunity. Every marketing and branding opportunity is a good thing. All of those things are incremental to improving in a wallet share,” she said.

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 to EMV and the way cards must be inserted in the EMV terminal, it makes sense to vertically print cards – the vertical orientation is more compatible and would make the card easier to read. But vertical cards would need to be printed in the opposite direction of the AFFCU card to deliver that convenience,” he added.

“While a credit union can always choose to place the account number on the back in the horizontal format, the sheer change of putting it on the short edge of the face of a vertical card can contribute to confusion,” Megan Bogard, senior designer at CPI Card Group, added. “Additionally, if introducing vertical cards may align with their business needs, credit unions should first give some thought to the types of terminals their local customers and prospects are most likely using their cards in and if their target audience would be receptive to it.”

3. Vertical cards are rare.

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

“[Differentiation] is the biggest advantage. Especially when considering card personalization and the different things possible with the vertical orientation. Of course, assuming the personalization occurs on the face of the card, a flat style will be required, and the numbers can be printed in a smaller scale to accommodate the design, while the mag stripe and chip remain in their standard places,” she explained. “Offering customers such vertically oriented personalization capabilities can certainly be a big differentiator for credit unions.”

Vertical layouts don't necessarily cost more, but finding the resources to put behind the effort is still a factor for many credit 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 an actual full-blown marketing department as opposed to somebody who's doing marketing as well as everything else for the really tiny credit unions, you'll have people who are really focusing on brand and lifting that brand,” she said.

4. Good luck trying to measure the return on going vertical.

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

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

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