USB Credit Card Flash Drives
USB Credit Card Flash Drives are one of the most exciting developments in the promotional flash drive market of recent years. Whilst there have always been drives in the shape of a credit card the thickness of these cards has been nothing like a conventional bank or credit card.
So, whilst you could achieve broadly the same overall effect the cards were typically a disappointment when they arrived not least because they were too thick to fit into most people’s wallets or purses! The latest version of the cards are a mere 2mm thick and whilst this is still thicker than the ISO standard of a regular card (0.75mm) they are now thin enough to comfortably fit into a wallet.
Continued improvements in the miniaturisation of components will continue to reduce the cards thickness but given the card has to have a physical connector that will push into a standard USB port we’re pretty much at the optimum thickness already.
The real benefit of USB flash drives in the shape of a bankcard or credit card is:
- The amount of space available to print onto is huge relative to a standard “rectangular” flash drive or pen drive. This means that a USB Credit Card flash drive can easily accommodate complex images and these images can be reproduced in a high-quality, photo realistic format. So, if you have lots of information like a website address, a phone number, a strap line and a couple of graphics then credit card USB flash drives are a sensible option.
- They’re a shape that is universally recognised around the world and pretty much everyone is used to carrying cards of this type in a wallet, purse, bag or organiser.
- They’re ideal for a physical Direct Mail campaign because they won’t increase the mail pack size beyond that charged for standard 1st class post.
- If they are stored in a wallet or purse (which is what you would expect) then they and your brand is going to get lots of on-going exposure.
USB Credit Card Flash Drives are a little more expensive than standard drives but not excessively so but they do offer significant benefits over standard flash drives and if you’ve got a large or complex logo they can be the only option worth considering.