MasterCard Launches Worlds First Map-Shaped Card

The card has an irregular shape with one side outlining the west coast of Taiwan. The launch of this unique card further reinforces MasterCard as a leader in innovation and design and introduces a new world of possibilities in card shape and design. The Union Bank of Taiwan card provides cardholders with payment convenience as well as special travel packages and discounts for transportation, accommodation, dining and car rental, with the aim of promoting domestic travel in Taiwan. Smaller than the conventional card, the Union Bank Travel Card is issued as a companion card to a full-sized MasterCard card that has the same image of Taiwan’s map on the card face. The card is the fifth MasterCard SideCard launched in Taiwan since October 2003, but the first to take the shape of the image on its card face. The other MasterCard SideCard cards launched in Taiwan include ChinFon Bank SideCard, Entie Bank Petite SideCard, Shanghai Commercial Savings Bank and Wellcome Supermarket Co-Branded SideCard and E.SUN Bank and Elephant Baseball Club Co-Branded SideCard. The MasterCard SideCard is a stylish new payment card which features a modified design small enough to fit on a key ring. An alternative to the traditional-sized payment card, MasterCard SideCard offers an ultra-convenient new form that can easily be carried and used at the point of sale. The MasterCard SideCard is the premier offering from the MasterCard Alternative Card Forms program -- an initiative designed to support MasterCard customer financial institutions in developing their own specific alternative payment solutions, including card shape and design.