James Bruce
Head of Brand & Design
7 minute read
As an established business since 2007, Card One Money provides accessible but highly functional current accounts not only for personal account customers but also for small businesses, especially those finding it difficult to obtain accounts with traditional banks. The last 18-months have been difficult for many people. Card One Money is more important than ever to personal and business customers, helping them access accounts and provide financial freedom.
The Card One Money account is for everyone. We don’t require credit checks, branch visits, or signatures, so managing your money is easy and accessible. In addition to your personal or business account, you’ll get a personal account manager and a prepaid debit card. No one should be excluded when it comes to personal finance. Card One Money is here to help.
To give the Card One Money business the love and attention it deserves and bring the brand closer to its sister companies, Equals Money and FairFX, we undertook an ambitious project to overhaul it entirely. With the rebrand, we’re clearly articulating the mission and vision values and purpose of Card One Money.
A brand refresh is always an exciting opportunity for a business, especially a long-standing and trusted one like Card One Money. Customers evolve, and a brand must make sure it does too by staying relevant and offering a service customers want. In our case, we want to move the brand forward, ensuring it's dynamic and functional across various platforms with a sharper focus to encourage transparency and trust in our products and services and be distinctive in our category. We crafted a new logo that encompasses everything we are as a business - customer-centric.
Then
Now
The ‘1’ represents singularity and individualism, everyone’s circumstances and requirements are different
The '1' element or motif that is incorporated into the ‘n’ of the word ‘one’, represents the individuality of our customers: we are all different with different requirements and a variety of circumstances. It also reflects our brand purpose and our experience - accessible, human, reliable, and empowering.
The customer is our number one priority.
All typography has been aligned, with the fonts used being our own bespoke Equals Group typeface. A custom font family creates uniformity across the group's businesses and shapes the character and personality of the core brand identity. A nod to being part of a bigger family,
Primary colours now have more contrast. The COM pink is vibrant and energetic to help stand out from the crowded marketplace and establish difference. The black infuses a sense of safety accompanied by simple, calm, and supporting grey tones.
Our new cards are instantly recognisable and keep it simple: white for personal and black for business. Card numbers are on the reverse for added security, minimising the risk of anyone taking your details.
New cards for personal customers (white) and business customers (black)
We're also very excited about the art direction of our new imagery. In a category dominated with over stylised imagery, we shifted focus, and our photography puts individuals front and centre.
We developed a theme of ‘modest individualism’. The black and white styling is honest, straightforward and no-nonsense, and doesn’t confuse or overwhelm the services we provide. We wanted to represent everyday individuals, connect with the reader and make their character shine through.
Photography for personal accounts is set on a pure white background to bring attention to the individualism and relatability of our customers.
Personal services photography
Business imagery is similar, but we wanted to be more ‘situational’ and have the customers in a work environment to exemplify how Card One Money helps enable your business to move forward. Eye contact is very important as the model extends outwards to the audience, which leads to an immediate human connection where the reader is present and involved in the scene.
Business services photography
The hand-drawn, sketched illustration style weaves character through the brand. It feels playful, welcoming and opens fun and entertaining application possibilities to create ownable brand moments.
Our brand revitalisation doesn’t stop there. All digital components have been updated across business and personal - website, mobile apps, social media assets, partners affiliate sites and everything else.
New website design for both personal and business customers
We’ve redefined the information architecture of the marketing site to make it much more customer-friendly and easy to navigate with lots of white space to reflect simplicity and transparency. Every design element has a clear purpose and brings helpful information to the fore. We’ve also added strong calls to action and created a new tone of voice to add brand character.
Branded items
The new Card One Money rebrand is here and ready for you to dive in and take a look. Go ahead and browse the new site, order a card and download the app.
We're still the same business you love with the same award-winning service, but now with a fresh look for Card One Money and great new customer experiences.
We hope you love it as much as we do.
