For anyone who has grumbled about their wallet being over-stuffed with cards, US-based start-up Coin has the answer. Their new card – also called Coin – does the job of debit cards, credit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards and membership cards, holding up to eight cards at any one time.
Used in conjunction with the user’s smartphone, Coin can be used anywhere standard cards are accepted – at ATMs, in restaurants, and in stores. The user simply toggles through their card options on the Coin’s screen, selects the card he wants to pay with, and the merchant swipes the card.
“This is designed for the lifestyle of today with the technology of tomorrow,” said Kanishk Parashar, founder and CEO of Coin. “You don’t need eight cards every day, so your phone is kind of like your drawer, and your Coin is kind of like your wallet.”
Coin is available on pre-order for US$50 – later it will be on sale for US$100 – and will be shipped out to users by mid-2014. When users receive their Coin, they also receive a swipe card reader dongle for their smartphone.
After logging into the Coin app (available for iOS and Android), the user swipes their card through the dongle and takes a photo of the front and back of their card. The app can store an unlimited number of cards, but Coin itself can only hold eight.
What about security?
As a new technology, Coin will no doubt face its fair share of sceptics, especially with concerns to security. Coin, however, thinks it has security covered. The app only allows users to add their own cards, and requires both the front and back of the card to be photographed, which Coin says will cut down on fraud.
Coin is also connected to the user’s phone via Bluetooth. If Coin gets too far away from the user’s phone – say, it’s forgotten, lost or stolen – Coin sends the user a phone alert. Coin then locks up if it is disconnected from the phone for too long.
This could be a problem if the user leaves his phone at home. However, Coin’s lock functionality can be turned off by the user if he thinks he will be away from his phone for a while, or if he thinks his phone will lose connectivity or run out of battery.
As for the information Coin stores – and boy, is that a lot of sensitive information! – Coin says it uses 128-bit or 256-bit encryption for all storage and communication on its servers, mobile apps and the Coin itself. For some though, it might be too much to trust that kind of information to a start-up with limited funds.
What about chip & PIN?
Unlike Australia, where signature payments are being phased out and chip & PIN will be the only way to pay with debit and credit cards from 2014, the US allows for signature payments as standard.
Coin is designed for the US market, and does not offer a chip & PIN option, making it unusable in countries such as the UK, which has been chip & PIN only since 2006.
For this reason, Coin suggests US users take back-up cards when they travel overseas. The company also says they are working on a chip & PIN version – a technology that is said to be much safer than swipe and sign.
Is it worth it?
“What we really needed was a single solution that let people interact with what exists and fits with your lifestyle,” Coin founder Parashar said.
However, with mobile wallets and mobile payments becoming increasingly popular, perhaps Coin will become obsolete before it even has the chance to make it onto the market.
“This is a mobile device, but the key difference is, it works now everywhere,” Parashar said. “But the Bluetooth, and the fact that there’s a screen that interacts wirelessly takes you to the next step, because the whole mobile landscape is moving towards Bluetooth energy.”
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