After over 40 years, the way we use credit cards is about to fundamentally change – and they’re getting a new vertical phone-like look to match

• Many banks are moving toward replacing horizontal credit cards with vertical ones.
• Tap-to-pay and chip readers have made a vertical orientation more convenient for users.
• PayPal’s VP of Design cited apps like TikTok as an inspiration for vertical card design.
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Credit card users might soon find their horizontal cards replaced by vertical ones as tap-to-pay continues to gain popularity.

Last week, PayPal joined several other banks in releasing credit and debit cards with vertical designs for its Venmo app.

Daniela Jorge, the Vice President of Design at PayPal, told Bloomberg the company’s new vertical orientation was inspired by TikTok and Instagram.

“The world around us is becoming more of the portrait mode and the vertical orientation,” Jorge said.

The vertical cards will make for a smoother user experience, as they will mimic how customers typically handle their cards when they either tap to pay or dip the card into the chip reader vertically, according to Jorge.  

Read more: Credit card rewards programs are getting upended as travel grinds to a halt. Here's what Chase and American Express are doing to keep 'top of wallet' status.

Cards with smart chips are used more often than any other type of card. Since the chip technology was adopted in the US in 2015, chip readers and tap-to-pay have gradually grown to replace the need for swiping cards with the magnetic strip on the back. 

Two years after EMV cards were introduced to the US, banks had issued over 855 million chip cards, according to Experian. 

The pandemic has also helped drive the switch as cards with smart chips decrease check-out time and reduces customer contact with card readers.

PayPal is just one of many companies to move toward a vertical orientation for cards in the past few years. 

See also: A 'coiled spring' is set to unleash massive growth for card giants like Amex, Mastercard, and Visa. Experts explain why the market will take off in 2021.

In 2018, Discovery Bank was one of the first US banks to offer vertical credit cards. In January, Bank of America - the second biggest debit card provider in the US - was one of the first major banks to adopt a debit card with a portrait-style orientation.

In its statement, Bank of America highlighted the advantages of a vertical card, including the speed of tap-to-pay, as well as the increased security of EMV chips.