Currensea, the UK’s best-rated travel debit card, has once again enhanced its offerings by launching a unique debit card for Hilton Honors members.

Known for its innovative debit card that eliminates the need for new accounts or prepaid cards by offering travellers reduced foreign exchange fees and significant savings across over 180 currencies.

With an opportunity to partner with Hilton Honors, the team behind Currensea envisioned a premium, world-class debit card that would provide customers with leading functionality and benefits. To bring this vision to life, they needed a trusted partner capable of delivering not only cutting-edge design but also flawless execution under tight deadlines.

After approaching existing partner allpay cards, renowned for its UK plastic card manufacturing headquarters, as well as its precision, speed, and high-quality service, the teams worked closely together to share expertise that enabled them to meet the ambitious goals of the project. The collaboration aimed to deliver a bespoke card that would cater to Hilton Honors’ UK customer base while reflecting the values of both Currensea and Hilton. The partnership was set to revolutionise how travellers use their debit cards abroad.

Challenge

Currensea aimed to create a bespoke debit card for its partnership with Hilton Honors that would offer both aesthetic appeal and functional superiority. The new card needed to resonate with Currensea’s value proposition of delivering cost savings to travellers while also meeting the standards and expectations of Hilton’s global customer base. Moreover, the design had to embody the premium nature of the Hilton Honors membership tiers (Silver and Gold), allowing the team to look at incorporating innovative elements such as foil core, raised gloss tactile features, and coloured edging with gradient fades to deliver the perfect aesthetic.

The project had a tight deadline, requiring rapid turnaround times in design finalisation, card production, and testing, without sacrificing quality or reliability. Making allpay cards the perfect partner with the capability to deliver on all fronts.

Solution

allpay cards, a trusted leader in plastic card manufacturing in the UK since 2008, was selected by Currensea to bring the Hilton Honors debit card to life. Renowned for delivering exceptional quality, speed, and service, allpay cards were well-equipped to meet the demanding requirements of the project.

The allpay cards prepress team worked closely with Currensea to continually review and refine the design features of the Hilton Honors debit cards, which included multiple iterations of plastic proofing, ensuring the design elements matched the vision for both Hilton’s brand and Currensea’s innovative ethos.

allpay cards then produced four bespoke debit card designs for the Hilton Silver Membership (consumer and business) and Hilton Gold Membership (consumer and business). The cards featured a premium foil core, symbolising exclusivity and quality. The logo and text on the face of the card were reversed through the foil core, creating a visually striking design, and the card's surface was adorned with raised gloss tactile filigree, adding texture and sophistication. The cards were designed with coloured edging and incorporated allpay card’s first-ever live gradient fade on a UK card, enhancing its visual appeal. To ensure global usability, the cards were integrated with MasterCard’s secure payment technology.

Despite the project’s compressed timeline, allpay cards’ teams cut standard lead times in half across design proofing, manufacturing, and testing. The cards were delivered on schedule, ensuring a seamless launch without sacrificing quality.

Results

The collaboration between Currensea and allpay cards resulted in a groundbreaking product that exceeded expectations. As James Lynn, co-founder of Currensea, noted, “This world-first partnership introduces Currensea’s simple, money-saving solution to Hilton Honors members. Currensea users saved almost £1.5m during the summer holidays alone, as the card was used once every five seconds globally.”

The premium Hilton Honors debit cards not only offered exceptional value to travellers by providing the best foreign exchange rates, but they also feature an elegant, innovative design that resonated with Hilton’s discerning members.

The successful delivery of the project on a shortened timeline underscores the strength of allpay cards’ commitment to speed, quality, and service as well as its ongoing partnership with Currensea. By more than halving the SLA times at each stage of the process, allpay cards ensured that Currensea could offer a world-class card solution to Hilton Honors members with no delays.

Conclusion

The Currensea-Hilton Honors card project exemplifies the power of collaboration between two forward-thinking companies. allpay cards’ ability to deliver on a complex brief with a rapid turnaround was key to the success of this innovative product, further solidifying its reputation as a leader in plastic card manufacturing. The result was a beautifully designed card that not only met functional requirements but also elevated the customer experience—offering Currensea’s customers premium features and substantial savings, all while reinforcing Hilton Honors’ prestige.

With a commitment to excellence in every step of the process, allpay cards continue to shape the future of plastic card solutions, where innovation meets reliability.

If you're ready to elevate your card solutions with speed, quality, and innovation, reach out to allpay cards today to see how we can bring your vision to life.