‘Coin’ Combines All Payment Plastic Into a Single Card

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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A new startup called Coin is looking to make your life much easier by consolidating up to eight of your credit cards onto a single digital card. If that doesn't strike you as sounding too smart or too safe, check out the video. :cool:
 
I always wanted something like this, but I can not seem to wait until Summer 2014... is there anything similar to this out now?
 
I don't understand some people's wallets, I have a debt card, two credit cards (in case one is not accepted at a particular location), my drivers license, and my health card.

While I would NEVER put my credit or debt cards "on it", loading up gift cards would be awesome. However $100 for the ability to do that? I'll just buy a bigger wallet if necessary. Also what's to say that every card reader knows exactly what card you're swiping? I have a gift card for Lowes Home Improvement, I swipe the Coin card, how does it know to use the gift card instead of the credit or debt? Do I need to pull out a smart phone to let it know what card to use? Seems like extra work that can be easily done with just having a bunch of cards.
 
Doesn't seem like a bad idea. I wouldn't pay $100 for one, or even the $50 "early adopter" deal, but I think I would get one if it came down to $20 or so.
 
I'm a little sick of everything going to the phone, it's like the most misplaced device besides car keys. They literally want to put everything on them, not a fan of creating such a dependency on something I despise anyways.

Can't we just make calls, send an occasional text message and move on with our lives?
 
sfsuphysics said:
I don't understand some people's wallets, I have a debt card, two credit cards (in case one is not accepted at a particular location), my drivers license, and my health card.

While I would NEVER put my credit or debt cards "on it", loading up gift cards would be awesome. However $100 for the ability to do that? I'll just buy a bigger wallet if necessary. Also what's to say that every card reader knows exactly what card you're swiping? I have a gift card for Lowes Home Improvement, I swipe the Coin card, how does it know to use the gift card instead of the credit or debt? Do I need to pull out a smart phone to let it know what card to use? Seems like extra work that can be easily done with just having a bunch of cards.
Click to expand...

You missed something there. You use your smart phone to load a new card's data into the card. There is a button on card itself that lets you select which one to use. Which there is where I see a possible issue. How little touch or pressure is needed for it to change. What if I select personal debit card and the person going to swipe the card accidently touches the button, do I need to worry that they might accidently switch it to my business card or some other card?
 
Seems like a lot better idea than something like Google Wallet since the merchant doesn't seem to have to change anything on their end.

I like the alarm if you get too far away and that the card will deactivate if it is away from your phone for too long.

The price is crazy at $50, and idiotic at $100. I'd love to consolidate my cards, but not that much. And what will it cost to get the replacement every two years?

I'd get one when the price hits $10 or less. Having multiple cards isn't that much of a hassle for me to be willing to pay more than that.
 
I like the idea but I just don't believe that it will work.

Would it be able proper take my credit cards? Both swipe and "chip"? Would Master and Visa allow this? Would they deny coverage for fraudulent purchases because I'm now using this "Coin" card?

Would they accept all my rewards/points cards? AirMiles, Petro Points, Esso Extra, Shoppers Optimum, Costco Membership Card, my gym membership card, etc etc etc?


And the most obvious question - would these all these places that accept these visa, mastercards, membership, points cards, etc... would they accept it at the till? I have a feeling they would tell me to go f**k myself and ask me why I am trying to commit fraud by using a non-physically existing card at a physical location.

Until they can get all these companies on board and saying "We support the Coin card", I have a feeling there will be a lot of growing pains, frustrations and inconveniences caused by this convenience card.
 
Cool idea. However, I don't have a smart phone to program it and even if I did I wouldn't want to leave Bluetooth on all the time.
 
Term-X said:
I like the idea but I just don't believe that it will work.

Would it be able proper take my credit cards? Both swipe and "chip"? Would Master and Visa allow this? Would they deny coverage for fraudulent purchases because I'm now using this "Coin" card?

Would they accept all my rewards/points cards? AirMiles, Petro Points, Esso Extra, Shoppers Optimum, Costco Membership Card, my gym membership card, etc etc etc?


And the most obvious question - would these all these places that accept these visa, mastercards, membership, points cards, etc... would they accept it at the till? I have a feeling they would tell me to go f**k myself and ask me why I am trying to commit fraud by using a non-physically existing card at a physical location.

Until they can get all these companies on board and saying "We support the Coin card", I have a feeling there will be a lot of growing pains, frustrations and inconveniences caused by this convenience card.
Click to expand...

It should be able to take any card. what it does is read your card's data and stores it. then when swiped returns whatever data it needs to. There are already programs out there that you can use to read one card's data and write it to a blank card.

Now if Visa and them would cover any fraud and if people would support taking it is another thing and is a good question
 
I like the idea, though $50 is a bit of a stretch. Their FAQ states the button on the card is hard to trigger and won't activate if you drop/toss/beat it up. If i could recharge it, the current price wouldn't be too bad, but for something that can die in "around 2 years" and needs to be replaced? No thanks.
 
Bill86 said:
I'm a little sick of everything going to the phone, it's like the most misplaced device besides car keys. They literally want to put everything on them, not a fan of creating such a dependency on something I despise anyways.

Can't we just make calls, send an occasional text message and move on with our lives?
Click to expand...

"Can we move on by rejecting these new and frightening technologies? I'm scared."
 
Mag strips die. My only concern would be service and quality. I have to replace my debit card due to bad strip every now and again. would I have to buy another $100 card or would they replace/fix?
 
NKDietrich said:
"Can we move on by rejecting these new and frightening technologies? I'm scared."
Click to expand...

I don't have wallet problems, I keep 2 cards. If I'm "scared" you're buying this to save space in your crowded purse you call a wallet.

Your call.
 
What's not to stop someone from say "swiping your card".

Oh hey sir you dropped your wallet, all cards copied in <5 mins. Victim is none the wiser.

Please show proper ID with coin purchase... onus to the business owner...
 
Term-X said:
Would it be able proper take my credit cards? Both swipe and "chip"?
Click to expand...
just from looking at the device, it would only accept swipe-only cards, as it only reads magnetic stripe info and stores/replicates it. there is no way (inb4 some stupid hard way) to replicate a security chip (which is by design).


Would they accept all my rewards/points cards? AirMiles, Petro Points, Esso Extra, Shoppers Optimum, Costco Membership Card, my gym membership card, etc etc etc?
Click to expand...
whatever information is stored on the magnetic stripe would be replicated. your airmiles/points/whatever are not stored on your actual card, or else you could just physically change them. only your account number or name, for example, are stored on the mag stripe; the computer that reads your account is where the data about how many points that account has, is kept.

so yes, it would.




And the most obvious question - would these all these places that accept these visa, mastercards, membership, points cards, etc... would they accept it at the till? I have a feeling they would tell me to go f**k myself and ask me why I am trying to commit fraud by using a non-physically existing card at a physical location.
Click to expand...

that is possible, but this thing looks pretty legit, and the more widely accepted and recognized the tech becomes, the less and less the above will happen. it IS a credit card fraudsters wet dream though... load up 500 credit cards you download off the internet... go shopping till you pass out.
 
For the last 10 years we ( The UK ) have been using almost exclusively chip and pin.

It seems to an invention a little behind the times to me.
I guess the magnetic strip is more widely used in other parts of the world.
 
Term-X said:
I like the idea but I just don't believe that it will work.

Would it be able proper take my credit cards? Both swipe and "chip"? Would Master and Visa allow this? Would they deny coverage for fraudulent purchases because I'm now using this "Coin" card?

Would they accept all my rewards/points cards? AirMiles, Petro Points, Esso Extra, Shoppers Optimum, Costco Membership Card, my gym membership card, etc etc etc?


And the most obvious question - would these all these places that accept these visa, mastercards, membership, points cards, etc... would they accept it at the till? I have a feeling they would tell me to go f**k myself and ask me why I am trying to commit fraud by using a non-physically existing card at a physical location.

Until they can get all these companies on board and saying "We support the Coin card", I have a feeling there will be a lot of growing pains, frustrations and inconveniences caused by this convenience card.
Click to expand...

That's a really good point about the fraud protection
 
There's a screen that allows you to choose which card you want to use.

sfsuphysics said:
I have a gift card for Lowes Home Improvement, I swipe the Coin card, how does it know to use the gift card instead of the credit or debt? Do I need to pull out a smart phone to let it know what card to use? Seems like extra work that can be easily done with just having a bunch of cards.
Click to expand...
 
LOL. I was thinking the same thing. But if you could recharge it, how would they make even MOAR money?
Rockferd said:
I like the idea, though $50 is a bit of a stretch. Their FAQ states the button on the card is hard to trigger and won't activate if you drop/toss/beat it up. If i could recharge it, the current price wouldn't be too bad, but for something that can die in "around 2 years" and needs to be replaced? No thanks.
Click to expand...
 
I would hope they have some kind of a "trade-in" when the battery dies. I don't see how they could expect people to pay full price for a new one when it's just a dead battery.
 
I ordered one. I have 4 different cards that I use for different things every day of my life. Being able to ditch all of these cards and the hassle they bring is great. Even if it wears out in 2 years the $50 is money well spent for the time and hassle saved for me. The big feature for me is how it detects when it is away from my iPhone as well. Due to having to fumble around with 4 cards I tend to forget/misplace them occasionally.

And yes, in the US we are not using chip and pin yet. I don't know why, I honestly don't. Fact is most places are mag strip only still in the states and most don't have the chip and pin terminals yet. Summer of 2016 when my card dies hopefully the we'll have moved more towards chip and pin, I doubt it though.

Anyways, thanks for informing me of this product via the front page. I've been waiting for a product like this for at least a decade.

And if anyone wants to do me a solid here is my referral URL if you intend to pre-order. This will throw $5 my way at no cost to you. - https://onlycoin.com/?referral=LivEYnUi
 
dd0512 said:
That's a really good point about the fraud protection
Click to expand...

My cousin had a post about this on FB a few days ago..I was interested in exactly what it did, so I went to their site and checked it out..The first thing that came to mind was "How much more money is VISA/MC/DISCOVER going to make by using this as an excuse to avoid any fraud investigations/losses"..Unless I had something in writing from my CC and Bank saying that it would NOT forfeit my fraud protection, I wouldn't spend a dime on it..

You are just asking to get screwed over..Sure it deactivates if away from your phone for XX period of time, but in a crowded mall, someone could grab it, and use it in several different stores at once in a short time frame...The other thing is that they can rotate whichever card you have stored on there to avoid triggering the unusual purchase pattern algorithm that most CC Companies use to spot Fraud..
 
I think I will pass. I like the fast pass stuff simply because the card never leaves my hand. So that's what I want....a payment method that is secure, and never leaves my hand.

The only thing that would be better, is if I could just think of the payment method I want to use, and send it directly from my brain to the register. ;)
 
What if you select your card, and when you give payment to a waiter or something, they inadvertently make it on a different card? That seems too easy to do and would cause a lot of problems, potential overdrafts, charging a card you don't use much and pay little attention to, etc. Guess it's not a huge deal but a glaring little flaw, I think.
 
Exavior said:
You missed something there. You use your smart phone to load a new card's data into the card. There is a button on card itself that lets you select which one to use. Which there is where I see a possible issue. How little touch or pressure is needed for it to change. What if I select personal debit card and the person going to swipe the card accidently touches the button, do I need to worry that they might accidently switch it to my business card or some other card?
Click to expand...

Another thing i can see as an issue is if say random waiter who has a criminal background you hand him your card in addition to running your card for your meal he puts your card on his coin he could in the course of a week put 30 cards on his coin with the owner not knowing any better then go on a spree burning each card till each card is blocked then empty the coin.
 
Will they support Windows Phone? No? pff

I would like to know how you can program your card to stay locked to a card you chose, and unlock it + change + lock it on the fly.

PayPal, Google Wallet, Amazon Payments, Company Card, Personal Debit Card, ... would be convenient.

Also, does this have a smart chip as well? My company card doesn't have one, so it's a PITA when traveling in Europe.
 
ccityinstaller said:
My cousin had a post about this on FB a few days ago..I was interested in exactly what it did, so I went to their site and checked it out..The first thing that came to mind was "How much more money is VISA/MC/DISCOVER going to make by using this as an excuse to avoid any fraud investigations/losses"..Unless I had something in writing from my CC and Bank saying that it would NOT forfeit my fraud protection, I wouldn't spend a dime on it..

You are just asking to get screwed over..Sure it deactivates if away from your phone for XX period of time, but in a crowded mall, someone could grab it, and use it in several different stores at once in a short time frame...The other thing is that they can rotate whichever card you have stored on there to avoid triggering the unusual purchase pattern algorithm that most CC Companies use to spot Fraud..
Click to expand...

The card deactivates when away from your phone only after a couple minutes. You run the same risk giving a waiter a physical card. A physical card doesn't deactivate until you find out a day later someone was using it and you call it in.

This is more secure then the normal card. You'll still have your banks automated protection on their end regardless. If I rack up a bunch of purchases BAC locks my account until I call them as it is.
 
Too bad stores is moving away from swipe cards and more and more demands a chip. At least in Sweden. At the moment most card stations can do both, but some Banks do not accept purchase from Swipe, and the chip is always the default method. And the other day I recieved my first card renewal that did only have the chipe, and no magnetic strip.
 
Ya we aren't doing that in the US, and if you read the card actually wont work in europe
 
Romale23 said:
Ya we aren't doing that in the US, and if you read the card actually wont work in europe
Click to expand...

No, it'll work around the world. I use my US cards in Europe all the time. It's a pain because retailers aren't training their employees what to do with magswipe cards but they work.
 
Mchart said:
No, it'll work around the world. I use my US cards in Europe all the time. It's a pain because retailers aren't training their employees what to do with magswipe cards but they work.
Click to expand...
I did encounter several stores in France that physically do not have magswipe capabilities. But, I can definitely attest to the many that have no clue about the concept of swiping.
 
Cerulean said:
I did encounter several stores in France that physically do not have magswipe capabilities. But, I can definitely attest to the many that have no clue about the concept of swiping.
Click to expand...

Even then they should be able to manually punch in the card number. Most of the time it's just uninformed employees who don't know how to work the PoS setup.
 
fatjapp said:
For the last 10 years we ( The UK ) have been using almost exclusively chip and pin.

It seems to an invention a little behind the times to me.
I guess the magnetic strip is more widely used in other parts of the world.
Click to expand...

Lol yeah, I was watching this thinking: "Wow, this would have handy 10 years ago, when swiping was a thing" :p

They should bring back the old fashioned mechanical sleds while they are at it too.

imprinter_sales_slips.jpg


Hipsters would love that vintage shit.
 
MartinX said:
Lol yeah, I was watching this thinking: "Wow, this would have handy 10 years ago, when swiping was a thing" :p

They should bring back the old fashioned mechanical sleds while they are at it too.

imprinter_sales_slips.jpg


Hipsters would love that vintage shit.
Click to expand...

This device is not meant for anything but the US market where chip and pin isn't used, and won't be used for at least a couple more years.
 
Rob94hawk said:
Sounds like a crook would have a field day with this card.
Click to expand...

Again, this device is more secure then the actual cards you carry around. Coin works exactly the same. Your account at the credit card company and their fraud prevention is exactly the same.

Yet, unlike the normal cards - It's attached to your phone. Phone out of distance for more then a couple of minutes? The Coin is worthless to any crook.

Meanwhile, I could loose my normal debit/credit card and not realize it until later that night and a thief could have racked up thousands in purchases until I noticed or my credit card company put a hold on it due to the spike in purchases.
 
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