dw

Once any cardholder receives the new design, please post here to let the rest of us know that it is available so we can request replacements. The frustration of using the new card design has exceeded what TY points are worth to me, so I've basically sockdrawered my Prestige card for the time being, except for internet purchases.

mia

What types of shops do you frequent where you do not swipe your own card? Restaurants would be one category, but we use Forward there for the 5X points.

dw

Actually, that is a very good question and I suppose the mix of merchants I charge purchases at may be somewhat different from others. Living in New York City, it is rare that I shop at large/big box chain stores (which are more likely to have POS systems that allow customers to swipe their own cards), and that includes the grocery stores I frequent. I also do not have a car so I don't make gas purchases. And I would estimate that 80% of my physical card swipes take place at restaurants or bars, where the card is taken away to be swiped... I didn't make it one week with the new card design before it just got too frustrating to use.

farwest101

What sort of morons work at the places you frequent? How effin hard is it to figure out where the mag strip is?

If it's such a problem, get out a Sharpie and put a big circle and arrow and say "SWIPE HERE".

joelfreak

I have seen a similar problem. Its not that they are morons, its that we have gone 20+ years with the stripe in the same place, and most people don't even give it a second thought. Its muscle memory, and when a card doesn't swipe, they just assume its a problem with the card. They NEVER think "is the stripe somewhere else?"

dw

When the CSP first came out, there was often slight confusion because the VISA logo and the numbers were on the back of the card. Now, there are a number of cards like that and I think cashiers have gotten somewhat used to seeing that.

The problem with the Prestige is that it is the ONLY card I can think of here in the US with the magnetic stripe located in an alternate location. If I didn't have this card or wasn't otherwise aware of it, I would never think that the stripe would be located on the FRONT of the card (and at the bottom!), of all places. Citi then compounded the problem by designing a card that also practically camouflaged the stripe. I can certainly see how in a dim environment like a restaurant, it would be completely missed.

IMHO the design is just idiotic. I care more about a card's rewards and benefits than whether or not it is distinctive looking.

eajusa

All they have to do is make the magnetic stripe gray.

immaculate

I never thought I'd complain about this but last week in FRA at duty free, I had someone at checkout repeatedly try to tell me that my card was declined when I saw her swiping the card the wrong way 5x in a row. The location of the chip somehow makes people overlook it immediately as well (right next to the hologram, I guess?) After the 5th swipe (each time, I politely asked her to orient the card differently - she refused) she handed the card back to me and asked for a different one. I pointed to the stripe and asked her to try it again. She did, it worked, and - to her credit - she apologised profusely for the mistake.

Most of the time, the folks at checkout are so accustomed to doing things one way that breaking protocol and dealing with an edge case just isn't in their routine. We'll see if the new card design makes things easier

docbert

Exactly! What sort of moron doesn't know that it's on the back of the card, on the same side as the signature strip, just like every other credit card.

Ohh.. wait.. That's not where it is, is it...

bbmatt

haha nice... I go the opposite way, i'm actually surprised when people actually FIGURE out how to swipe it correctly the first time.

I've noticed that some stores are requiring the chip vs. the mag stripe. I swiped at my grocery store and it gave me a message to insert the chip into the slot instead. I think it's a feature/function of the machine to note that the card has a chip and to use that instead.

hopefully this will continue to trend and people will notice the chip.

HOWEVER, even with the chip, i'd had issues (less than the US) at people recognizing the chip being on the back.

oh citi... trying to fancy, and fail.

Jcrew

I've had this card for over 3 months and I can safely say that only 2 people knew how to swipe the card correctly on the first time because "they saw the card before". I gave up and I just tell them that the strip is on the front side when I give them my card. Even then some people still swipe the wrong side.

islandguy84

I do wish they just put everything on the back, they managed to cram everything on the AA Executive cards just fine as seen on the image here ->
http://travelwithgrant.boardingarea....onors-cruises/

Brugge

Hmmm... That just seems too reasonable to do.

Then again, I haven't experienced this yet, as my card is still in transit.

mia

There is less available space on the Prestige card because of the transparent blue arc.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

Same here. I've only had one person tell me he saw the card before, just a few hours before me.

Everyone else gets confused. It's also hard to see if they're doing it right, because sometimes you don't know where the reader part is on their machine. Pointing towards the register? away from the register? And sometimes, machines have problems reading cards.

I tried to explain to someone who was swiping my card that the stripe was in front, but he kept saying it wasn't working. It turns out his machine was broken, and it wasn't Citi's fault this time.