Coin - 8 Cards in 1

Some of you may have seen this floating around the web and even on some news channels... There's a product in development (and available for pre-order) called Coin. Basically it's a device the size of a credit card, which acts like a credit card, and syncs with your phone. This means you can store up to 8 credit cards, membership cards, loyalty cards, or whatever on it.

Here's the Coin site which has a lot more information:
https://onlycoin.com

If you decide to preorder one, use the link in my sig to give me a referral credit!

Essentially, you pair your Coin to your phone using low energy bluetooth. Then, you use the included card reader to swipe your cards into the Coin app. Then, you choose which cards you want on your Coin and your phone pushes the card data to the Coin itself. When you use the Coin to make purchases, you can select which card to pay with. You can also put things like gift cards on it or membership cards.

So, that's the overview. I'm curious what you all think about this. I've wanted something like this for a while and really like the idea of it because I could condense my wallet quite substantially by turning 8 cards into 1. I also like that your phone can alert you if you leave it somewhere and that if you lose it, it will deactivate itself after a certain amount of time. I've pre-ordered one for $50 which is half off the price they intend to sell them for. The $50 price is valid for another 7 days.

Curious to hear your thoughts!

 

[Cruel]

i may look into it, seems rather intriguing. have you gotten yours yet? i wanna hear about it from based god matt before i make any decisions.

 

[Heads447]

Interesting concept... However, wouldn't every person that signs up and uses Coin be violating their card agreements and knowingly/purposely committing fraud by violating the contract they signed to receive the card?

 

i may look into it, seems rather intriguing. have you gotten yours yet? i wanna hear about it from based god matt before i make any decisions.

Ha, no they don't ship until next summer. They have some demo videos and stuff around the web you could check out.

 

[Rsaccounttrader]

I think you should wait for this to actually be developed before buying one. They probably won't come out until closer to the end of 2014, there is no definite chance that credit card merchants (Visa, MC, Amex, etc) will approve that their cards be used on it, it requires your phone to be on and near it to work (if your phone dies and you have no cash you cant get home), and it isn't the most user friendly device (what if the store worker presses the button while trying to swipe).
I'd wait for the technology to actually be released and tested in the real world before purchasing.

 

Interesting concept... However, wouldn't every person that signs up and uses Coin be violating their card agreements and knowingly/purposely committing fraud by violating the contract they signed to receive the card?

That's been an item of debate in the media. I think people are less concerned about that than they are merchants no accepting them. But keep in mind you use your CC number online freely and in other forms without issue. The Coin is a clone and presents itself as the original card, so the card issuer would never know.

I think you should wait for this to actually be developed before buying one. They probably won't come out until closer to the end of 2014, there is no definite chance that credit card merchants (Visa, MC, Amex, etc) will approve that their cards be used on it, it requires your phone to be on and near it to work (if your phone dies and you have no cash you cant get home), and it isn't the most user friendly device (what if the store worker presses the button while trying to swipe).
I'd wait for the technology to actually be released and tested in the real world before purchasing.

A couple thoughts-
1. The merchants don't really have to approve it since you swipe your card into the Coin. They may not like it, but I don't know that they can or will forbid it. Also keep in mind the merchants may benefit from the Coin since if you lose your coin it disables itself and isn't as susceptible to skimming since it never displays your full card number.

2. You don't need your phone to use the Coin. You only need your phone to add/remove cards. The phone does, however, enhance the Coin with the autolock and other features which I believe are largely optional.

3. They said the button is designed not to be easily pressable by accident. They also say if you use the auto-lock feature no one can switch the card when the card is out of proximity to your phone.


I bought one figuring it would be a neat toy to play with and it looks like it may actually be a viable product. I'm hoping it's not delayed and really look forward to getting it. I'll also note, for those of you in Chip and Pin countries, that this does not have Chip ad Pin.

 

[FireZ]

Very interesting concept. Be fun to watch and see how fast this catches on.

 

[Tornstol]

Interesting

 

[RS_Crispy]

Looks good from what you've all said. Again, it's interesting and definitely worth keeping an eye on. I'll have a proper look later when I get the chance, and use your link if I decide to get one.

 

For anyone still interested in this, they've updated their FAQs with some more information about the Coin's security features:
https://onlycoin.com/support/faq/

Edit: They're also still 50% off, so $55 for a pre-order including shipping!