Summary

  • Konica Minolta’s flexible OLED lighting panel is being integrated into credit cards by Sentry Enterprises for a flashy payment experience.
  • Radiance’s card illumination platform uses NFC terminals to power OLED screens on credit cards, enhancing brand recognition without batteries.
  • While the need for screens on credit cards is debatable, Radiance seems confident the market will embrace this innovative technology.



As the technology behind flexible screens advances, more and more uses are trickling out.Konica Minolta’s flexible OLED lighting panel is finally coming into its own with the help of the financial tech industry, specifically Sentry Enterprises who runs the Radiance card illumination platform, adding OLED screens to credit cardsthat arepowered by NFC terminals when transacting.That’s right, your credit cards may soon contain flexible OLED screens that offer a light show when it comes time to pay for things. Neato.


samsung-sid-display-week

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You can see an example of what Radiance’s card illumination platform can look like in the image below where the logo in the center lights up when near an NFC payment terminal. So far, the Radiance tech supports both Visa and Mastercard, but Radiance is also looking to spin up its own cards, where the idea is that the screen will offer instant recognition of the brand, thus somehow converting our amazement with shiny screens into brand loyalty, which then converts to money spent by consumers and money made by Radiance and its partners. It’s all about the money, after all.

radiance oled credit card showing light up logo in center
Source: Sentry Enterprises



Still, the tech itself is pretty cool, as there is no battery in these cards, NFC connections power them, and of course the screens can bend, since credit cards are made of flexible plastic. Whether weactuallyneed screens in our credit cards, and thus a new avenue for something to break that didn’t previously exist, remains to be seen, though it seems clear Radiance is betting heavily the market will embrace these screens and the credit cards that offer them with open arms. After all, if our cards contain chips already, why not add a screen too to wow the market.

Swiping an Edge phone over a payment device.

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