They have sort-of fixed this with their Nationwide Member credit card, which has a more noticeably different design.
The Select credit card was much more similar to their debit cards. Maybe you could ask them to switch, now that there is no difference between the two (cashback on the old card has been scrapped, I think)?
Iām in the process of giving up my Nationwide credit card, Iām a second card holder on my Wifeās account, so it matters not anymore anyway.
Was this their Select Credit Card (silver) v their FlexPlus Account card (also silver)? The only difference is the colour of the Nationwide logo on the card.
First Direct are just as bad, if not worse. Their Visa debit card is almost indistinguishable from their Visa credit card. It does say debit/credit in the corner, but this is printed in a very unclear typeface and itās easy to miss.
I understand theyāve changed their debit cards to Mastercard now, so at least they will look a bit different.
Yes, exactly that. Iād probably drunk at least 7 pints of cloudy cider at the time, so I didnāt help myself one bit 
Yes, I think itās this. The branch selector used to be much easier to get to. There was a section near the end of the application called āYour financesā, where you were asked if you wanted an overdraft and then a final section called something like āYour accountā about your new account. You got to pick the sort code and also decide if you wanted to be paperless (my recommendation is no for Child & Co, as online statements are RBS branded but paper ones are Child & Co branded).
To try to force it to the old application, you could try applying on a desktop computer, during overnight downtime. I think this forces the website to serve up the old form.
So turn off pop-up blocking, as the selector is a pop-up, enable all cookies and apply at 2am. Child & Co also may not be listed, just manually type in the correct sort code and it will work anyway. You donāt need to select it in the selector, although I think it does appear if you just type London in the address box. If anybody does it, let us know if it works!
Wait, the debit is huge on First Direct cards?
Iāve never understood this.
I happily used Nationwide as my main account for years, but they have sadly been left wanting by virtually every other bank nowadays. They donāt show any references for outgoing payments, so itās easy to forget why youāve sent someone money.
If youāre sending money between different Nationwide accounts, you donāt see the other personās name, only their sort code and account number, so unless you recognise those details you will have no idea who youāve sent the money to, or who youāve received it from.
That alone has caused me some real angst on several occasions!
The instant notifications on expenditure through a joint Starling account would also be a huge benefit too. The more I think about it, the more it seems the most savvy thing to do.
Yes, itās in large print, but the letters are only outlines, not block letters. The credit card is the same and itās easy to mix them up when youāre in a rush. They only introduced this wording because they got loads of complaints. My first credit card from First Direct didnāt say credit card anywhere on it.
But the Visa Debit logo would have just said Visa, maybe Visa Credit, and there would have been no sort code or account number printed on it.
It would also have had a different long number.
Not impossible to tell apart, although Iāll grant you that itās not ideal to have them similar.
Anyway, if you hate it, time to āloseā you card, as I believe they are doing Mastercards only from now on (the changeover is September).
No it wasnāt impossible, just difficult. The Visa logo on First Direct cards just says Visa; it doesnāt specify debit or credit.
You canāt expect customers to check the different long number on the card, otherwise you might as well say the same to people who want different cards for joint accounts.
I actually left First Direct 2 or 3 years ago as their mobile app was rubbish and I couldnāt even get it to open on mobile data, it would only work on WiFi. I switched it to Barclays, although I still have a First Direct credit card.
Gave it try on my PC. popup is meant to occur before you get to the overdraft part of the application, and in my case, it didnāt. The interface just looked like a blown up mobile one anyway. So that was a shame.
Perhaps it shows up in a different area of the application process, or maybe itās like @anon85728687 said in that you need to use a specific URL
I was sure the pop-up was after the overdraft bit, but it was years ago now so I might be wrong.
Iām a bit surprised at the dominance of Monzo and Starling in the results for the poll in the opening post. That poll allowed two banks to be chosen per person. Iām interested what the results would be if we are limited to one choice. So hereās a version where you can only pick one option. Iāll let individuals decide for themselves what constitutes their main bank. Thereās an option for those who donāt think they have a main bank.
List is based on the banks in the latest banking Ipsos Mori service quality results.
0 voters
I would suggest this, also always keeping your cards in a given slot in your wallet so you can tell them apart based on physical position.
Again, clearly not ideal - but might help in cases of identical design.
Also, you could try learning the expiry date or CCV of one card, so you could tell it apart from the other.
Do you happen to remember how far along it was for you? Currently at the bit where it wants me to choose a digital banking pin and password.
I got that far before I bailed out. Would be interesting to see if it comes after that!
This is where Iām tempted to bail out too! Worried if I progress beyond this step thereās no going back!
Now that I know this cool thing exists, I donāt want to settle for anything less! 
Theyāve already credit checked you so thereās not much to lose (unless they perform a second, hard check later on?)