AI-Powered Card Design: Speed, Customisation and Inclusion
Designing the perfect payment card has always been a delicate balancing act between quality, compliance, and brand expression. Today, artificial intelligence is rewriting the rules.
Mastercard launched the AI Card Design Studio, a web-based tool that enables card issuers to upload their logos and brand guidelines and instantly generate compliant card designs. Rather than waiting weeks for a design to be signed off, issuers can select backgrounds and patterns and download ready‑to‑use designs in minutes https://www.mastercard.com/.
According to Mastercard, the tool will soon allow consumers to customise their cards themselves, a clear sign that personalisation is coming to the payments space. This innovation is part of a broader strategy that utilises AI to streamline card design approvals and minimise time spent on repetitive tasks.
Inclusive by design
Speed is only half the story. Mastercard’s commitment to inclusive design is evident in its Touch Card initiative, where tactile notches help blind and partially sighted people distinguish between debit, credit and prepaid cards. The system has been endorsed by the Royal National Institute of Blind People and VISIONS Services for the Blind. It is complemented by a sonic brand that plays during transactions. By combining AI‑driven tools with inclusive features, Mastercard is demonstrating how technology can enhance both efficiency and accessibility.
AI and design working in partnership
Artificial intelligence can accelerate card design cycles, ensure compliance and free up designers to focus on strategic work. Inclusive features, such as the Touch Card, expand the customer base and demonstrate a commitment to responsible design. For product owners and design leaders, the message is clear: leverage technology to deliver personalised, accessible experiences that meet regulatory and brand requirements.
Personalisation increases loyalty and customer ownership
Using a highly personalised experience is a massive win for design and increases spending. When your product, service, or experience feels made just for them, it not only captures attention—it earns loyalty. That’s where personalised design becomes a silent powerhouse for ROI. They don’t just design for users, they design for this user, right now. Personalised touchpoints keep people coming back, increasing lifetime value. When you keep someone engaged, you’re not just making one sale; you’re opening the door to repeated interactions, upselling, and referrals. ROI doesn’t just come from the first transaction; it multiplies across the relationship.
It builds emotional connection and trust. People buy from brands that “get” them. A personalised design says, We see you. We understand you. We’re not wasting your time. That emotional resonance makes price less of a deciding factor because the value feels tailored. Compare that to a cold, one-size-fits-all approach—it feels transactional, and transactional relationships are fragile.
It sharpens your data-driven decisions
Here’s the clever bit: personalisation feeds on data, and in return, it produces better data. You start to learn user behaviours in real-time, which helps refine products, marketing, and pricing strategies. It’s a feedback loop that makes your business more innovative and more efficient, cutting acquisition costs and boosting conversion rates. Understanding the path of personalisation your customers are choosing provides insight into user journeys and potential to build on this, even upselling to increase customer spend.
In highly saturated spaces, generic design is forgettable. Personalisation is a differentiator. If a competitor offers a generic interface but you anticipate needs, streamline journeys, and surface exactly what matters to your audience, you win the battle for attention, and attention is the new currency.
The ROI Equation
Personalised design means:
• Higher conversion rates → less wasted traffic
• Lower churn → more predictable revenue
• Increased lifetime value → customers stay, spend, and advocate
• Smarter operational spend → fewer resources wasted on ineffective touchpoints
It’s not “just design”; it’s a precision tool for maximising every pound you invest in marketing, product, and service delivery.
Want to see the impact?
What’s the cost of not personalising? How many leads walk away because the experience felt irrelevant? How many loyal customers drift to competitors who “get” them better?
The businesses winning on ROI today aren’t simply cheaper or louder—they’re closer to their customers.
Designed for Humans is here to make personalised experiences for your brand that customers love and keep on coming back to.
Curious about experiences and design?
Read more interesting stories from our blog
