Very interesting - some US examples that come to mind are Chime, Current, and Petal, all sporting the same modern "sleek" design.

Was the Robinhood debit card the first mainstream card for this? I distinctly recall my friends and I thinking it looked cool, and we wanted it just for how it looked.

Though I guess it's always been about the status - thinking back to the American Express Centurion card. It seems like modern cards are shifting from signaling wealth (old metal cards) to hipness (new sleek cards).