Khaled Mazeedi’s Swipemint Challenges World’s Leading Banks With Secured And Personalized Premium Metal Credit Cards

Metal bank cards.

Symbols of luxury and personal status, the banks that issue metal credit cards usually charge high yearly fees and require high credit scores to qualify. At the very highest echelons, the likes of American Express and Chase require over $250,000 a year in purchases and payoffs just to begin the qualification process.

The launch of the Dubai-based company Swipemint offers anyone in the world the ability to convert their plastic debit or credit card into a state-of-the-art metal card. The card, made from a core of stainless steel and a range of finishes, is sleek and attractive, and when gently dropped from some height onto a table, has the distinctive metal clank of the closing door of a Rolls Royce; without a single word, the card - and its owner - screams success. Suddenly, card-owners don't have to be mega-rich to play in the big leagues of exclusive metal card holders.

Khaled Mazeedi, CEO of Swipemint, notes: "It may seem like a trivial matter, but when it comes to business, first impressions are often the difference between closing a deal or losing a deal. Having a metal card in your wallet is an unquestioned status symbol."

Swipemint’s value proposition is simple: upgrade your current bank issued card to your choice of three distinct offerings: the Monarch, Thales and Vertu cards. The Monarch metal card gives customers a variety of metal finishes, including brushed and polished options in steel, chrome and gold, with a number of designs and personalisations available. The most accessible of the range, the Monarch, is geared for executives and professionals looking to position themselves above the pack, in a way that elevates their image.

Heavy duty metals. Iconic designs. Superb privileges. Zero qualifications. The Thales card comes in gold, platinum, and black finishes. Reforming traditional premium banking, the Thales card has benefits, rewards and privileges that outclass and outperform the Amex black card in more ways than one, for a fraction of the cost. These include having access to over one thousand executive airport lounges and eight hundred WeWork offices from around the world, getting air mile rewards and over seven hundred luxury hotel benefits with a private wealth advisor that offers investment advice. No institution offers anything like it.

The part not to miss, and its best value proposition, is that it requires zero qualification. The card's multi-layered design showcases a timeless logo of Thales of Miletus- a greek mathematician who created the first monopoly in history with olive oil production. The background layer is Swipemint’s recognizable “world service” monogram.

Mazeedi says “the Thales line is revolutionizing access to premium credit card services and is reforming the benefits and rewards systems that banks have to offer.”

A nod to the phone of the same name, the Vertu is a metal card whose bespoke design and use of materials can be left entirely to the imagination of the owner. With options ranging from exotic and advanced materials, to the use of rare inset gems, the purchase of a Vertu card comes with its own personal design consultant, working with clients to create a bespoke design and render a series of 3D design mockups for approval.

When asked to name a Vertu client, CEO Khaled Mazeedi notes, “Swipemint will never divulge the identities of any of our clients, however, we count prominent figures and several royal family members among our Vertu clients.”

The whole idea may seem over the top, but future strategy expert and Swipemint advisor Dr. Petar Stojanov offers this advice: “The future of banking is distributed, and our experience in leading cryptocurrency and fintech initiatives place Swipemint at an advantage over other banking institutions.”

The secrecy, not simply for show, serves an important purpose. The EMV chip, the small gold chip resembling a SIM card on each credit card, is removed from the original card in a process that looks like it came out of a high-tech surgical lab, and transplanted into the owner’s new metal card. Data-handling systems are entirely offline, in order to eliminate the risk of a cyber attack, and the company states its process is more secure than any banking institution. Security is absolutely paramount in the process since the Swipemint team deal with sensitive information on a daily basis.

Mazeedi notes that the new design deactivates a common flaw in all new cards; the ‘Tap to Pay’ feature: “Considering the level of our clientele and the daily spending limits our customers enjoy, Swipemint’s cyber security team have disabled the ‘Tap to Pay’ functionality. We feel this is in our client’s best interests”. However, clients can continue to access the ‘Tap to Pay’ functionality of their existing card, if they wish to do so.

"Millennials prefer the sleekness of the metal credit card, along with the status symbol it provides," said Mazeedi. "Swipemint Credit Cards are 100% safe and secure whether it's shipped domestically in the UAE, or internationally, and comes with free delivery and same day processing for domestic orders."

The business is the first of its kind in the MENA region, with customers commenting the biggest drawback is giving their personal card to a third party. But Mazeedi’s Swipemint has managed to solve this concern by introducing a secure delivery system that ensures card details are protected. Swipemint has a chauffeur pick and delivery service with a guarantee that card details won't be compromised. Swipemints VIP concierge pickup their client cards in a secure briefcase with a pin code configured by the car holder. The PIN code is sent directly to the card manufacturing facility at Swipemint. Delivery is executed in the same way; a secure pin locked metal briefcase with pin activation on delivery.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes