By Hariz Khairi • Updated September 2026 • 5 min read

What Product Did Unseen Matters Create for OCBC Bank?

Unseen Matters designed a Convertible ID Card Holder with Wrist Strap as a sustainable corporate gift in KL for OCBC Bank, combining a traditional Malaysian pattern with a multipurpose, everyday-carry design.

This project shows how an ESG corporate gift Malaysia banks can distribute doesn’t need to be a single-use item – the holder was built to function as an office card lanyard on a Monday and a travel luggage tag on a business trip the following week.

Why Did OCBC Bank Need a Custom ID Card Holder?

OCBC Bank wanted a sustainable corporate gift in KL that employees and clients would actually carry daily, rather than a standard lanyard that gets used once and left in a drawer.

Corporate ID holders are one of the most commonly gifted items in banking, which also makes them one of the easiest to overlook. OCBC needed a design that broke that pattern – something distinctive enough to hold onto, but still practical enough to genuinely replace whatever card holder or lanyard someone was already using. The brief called for a single design that could serve more than one purpose, so the item earned a permanent place in someone’s daily carry rather than competing with it.

Where Did the Design Inspiration Come From?

The holder’s traditional Malaysian pattern was rendered in a deep red palette, customised to reflect OCBC’s brand identity while keeping the woven motif clearly recognisable as heritage craftsmanship.

Rather than treating the pattern as a decorative afterthought, our team built the colour story around what a banking client’s branding could comfortably carry – deep red as a base, with the pattern’s white and lighter red detailing giving it depth and texture without straying into something too bold for daily corporate use. Keeping the traditional weave pattern seamless across the design meant every angle of the holder, whether worn upright as a lanyard or lying flat on a table, still read as one cohesive pattern rather than a print that had been stretched or cut awkwardly to fit the shape.

What Makes This a Convertible Design?

The ID card holder converts between two functions – a wrist strap ID holder for everyday office use, and a travel luggage tag – through the same wristlet-style strap and clip hardware.

The core of the design is a single wrist strap attached to a card holder with a clear ID window. Worn as-is, it functions as a standard office lanyard with a wrist strap option for anyone who prefers not to wear it around the neck. Unclipped and reattached to a bag handle or suitcase grip, the same piece becomes a luggage tag – no separate accessory needed. This dual function was the central design constraint from day one: everything else, from the strap length to the clip strength, was built around making both uses feel equally natural rather than one function feeling like an afterthought.

What Practical Features Were Built Into the Holder?

The holder includes a 35-degree angled back pocket, designed to make cards easier to slide out and access without needing to tilt or fumble with the holder itself.

Small ergonomic details like this tend to separate a gift that gets used daily from one that gets tolerated. A flat, straight-cut back pocket forces an awkward pinch-and-pull motion to remove a card; angling the pocket at 35 degrees lets a thumb naturally catch the card’s edge on the first try. It’s a detail most people won’t consciously notice, but one that shapes whether the holder feels genuinely convenient or just adequate after repeated daily use.

How Was the Holder Built for Durability Across Two Uses?

Since the holder needed to function both as a daily office accessory and an occasional travel item, construction had to account for two very different wear patterns.

Office use meant frequent, light daily handling – clipping and unclipping from a badge reel, sliding cards in and out. Travel use meant infrequent but higher-stress handling – being clipped onto luggage, tossed onto conveyor belts, and exposed to more rough handling than an office lanyard would ever see. The clip hardware and strap stitching were reinforced to hold up under both conditions, rather than being optimised for one use case at the expense of the other.

What Was the Outcome of the OCBC Bank Card Holder Project?

OCBC Bank received a corporate gift that stayed in active use well beyond a single context, moving with recipients between the office and their travel without needing to be swapped for a different item.

For OCBC, it meant a piece of branded merchandise that recipients had genuine reason to hold onto, rather than something that quietly disappeared into a drawer after the first week. For Unseen Matters, the project reinforced a broader principle behind good corporate gifting: designing for more than one use case is often what determines whether a gift becomes a daily habit or a one-time impression.

Looking for a Sustainable Corporate Gift in KL?

Unseen Matters designs custom sustainable corporate gifts and ESG-aligned event gifting for banks and corporate brands across Malaysia, from concept through production.

Whether it’s a sustainable conference event gift, an ESG corporate gift Malaysia banking teams can hand out with pride, or a fully custom sustainable corporate gift in KL, Unseen Matters can take a project from concept to delivery. Get in touch with Unseen Matters to start your own project.