Hmm, pretty neat hack! I like the idea a lot.<p>I'm disappointed that they didn't mention that this is hooked to an online service until you get well into their FAQ:<p><pre><code> Maintaining the integrity of your Coin’s data is
critical to your peace of mind. That’s why our servers,
mobile apps and the Coin itself use 128-bit or 256-bit
encryption for all storage and communication (http and
bluetooth). Additionally Coin can alert you in the
event that you leave it somewhere.
</code></pre>
If this were purely a hardware device and software than ran on my phone, I might be interested. Adding in an online service appears to add more points of failure, and more opportunity for yet another third party to snoop on my behavior. It would be nice if they described in more detail why this online service was necessary, what data was stored there, and what privacy protections they provide.<p>Also disappointing that it doesn't support chip and pin. Whenever I travel to the UK, I find that people are increasingly surprised by cards that don't have a chip, and need to fumble around trying to remember how to use the card reader; it would be nice if this would be an opportunity for me to get a chip and pin compatible card out of my mag stripe card to avoid that problem (though on reflection, it's likely that a mag stripe doesn't contain sufficient information to make a valid chip and pin card).<p>$100 for something that lasts for two years and solves only a minor annoyance seems a bit steep. I'm sure that there will be plenty of people who will buy it, but I don't know if I would find it worth the cost beyond the novelty value.<p>I do appreciate their Bluetooth LE Arduino dev kit: <a href="http://blog.onlycoin.com/posts/2013/10/3/coin-arduino-ble-dev-kit" rel="nofollow">http://blog.onlycoin.com/posts/2013/10/3/coin-arduino-ble-de...</a>
Super cool idea! but, terrible name choice, no one is ever going to call it just "Coin" they're gonna call it their "coin card". "Coin" is already slang for money in general like, "dough" or "clams" and is also already a form of money.<p><pre><code> Do you have a coin?
I lost my coin.
Check out my coin.
I paid for that with coin.
Coin is so convenient.
I got rid of all my credit cards, I just use coin.
</code></pre>
All of those will be "coin card" if this catches on.<p>Similarly, I have an account at Simple. And while it's a product I absolutely love it's hard to explain to people what I mean by "I do my banking online at Simple" or "I like simple because they charge no fees" It seems like I'm just being grammatically incorrect and I honestly feel like it contributes negatively to peoples perception of the company. Also search is a bitch when you've got such a crappy name.
I think one of the hardest things about having one would be convincing retailers you're not trying to somehow scam them. Especially in the case of loyalty cards. Sure I CAN load my card onto the Coin, but what is a merchant going to do when I pass them something strange that looks nothing like their card?
This is potentially useful for the US market as chip/pin is very new to us and only recently rolled out via major banks this year (I literally just got my new Visa card with a chip). I can see how Europe is far ahead of the curve.<p>My initial questions/concerns are as follows:<p><i></i>Will this be usable in ATMs?<i></i> I can't visibly tell if it's too wide to fit.<p><i></i>Is there any planned security functionality to lock the card via your paired mobile device?<i></i> I'd like to be able to supply a password to unlock for a short period of time for usage.
This seems a great way to steal other people's credit cards. You can literally duplicate someone's card on your "coin".<p>Now there's a super easy way for someone working in a restaurant to get your credit card information and sell it.
How does this work with the typical credit card setup, ie chip and pin? Do they duplicate the pin of each credit card?<p>In Canada I haven't' seen a place that doesn't use chip and pin for about 3 years now.<p>Can someone shed some light on how they get around this?
There's been another company working on this for many years: <a href="http://www.dynamicsinc.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.dynamicsinc.com/</a> I've seen the working models, they are decent, but it's a surprisingly hard problem.
It doesn't seem to apply to inserting, and in Europe we don't really use swiping (also we have to type a PIN code).<p>Although as a US product only it seems surreally cool and practical. I wouldn't use that for my credit card, but for a membership card? I have way too much H&M card, Levis' card, Virgin Megastore card, Cinema Card...
One of the things I noticed about the chip and pin migration in Canada was that when merchants all upgraded their point-of-sale terminals to handle EMV, many new terminals also happened to handle contactless payments.<p>I've been on two internships in the valley, and despite the availability of Google Wallet, I couldn't find a merchant that would accept it (apart from McDonald's) because everyone was still using magstripe-only terminals. (There were even a few merchants at trade shows who were still using triplicate carbon-copy forms...!)<p>I think Coin is a product that makes sense for the US market right now as a transitionary product, and wouldn't be surprised if Google acquired them some time in the next year or so and rolled them into the Wallet product offering. When and if US merchants upgrade to chip-and-pin capable offerings, (almost) everyone who owns a Nexus device made in the last two or three years will be ready with unified wallet offerings that already exist.
Great technology solving what's a small, but real inconvenience with a great, simple UX and product. Just bought mine.<p>My only question was can I use for my ATMs too (which pull card in vs. being swiped)?<p>And the answer is yes, great FAQ by the way:<p><a href="https://onlycoin.com/support/faq/" rel="nofollow">https://onlycoin.com/support/faq/</a>
I just invented something similar.<p>Though it only supports a maximum of 4 cards, at scale it would cost ~500x less.<p>I call it "penny." Here's my prototype: <a href="http://imgur.com/49auKC4" rel="nofollow">http://imgur.com/49auKC4</a>
I love this idea, but I don't think it would solve one of the biggest reasons why I would want something like this:<p>Royalty Cards. I simply don't use them because that's way too many cards to have in your wallet. But say I'm at a restaurant, without coin, you give the waiter your credit card and your royalty card. With coin, do you make him run back twice so you can hit the button to switch from your credit card to your royalty card?<p>I guess you could get 2, one for credit / debit cards, another for royalty cards, but that seems to start defeating the purpose.
> "...a problem most of us have."<p>Is this a real problem? I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you can't determine a problem by telling me <i>this is a problem we all have</i>. I'm not buying the angle, sorry. Not like I'm against this idea, but the sell is a little ridiculous.<p>How would this work with chip-based cards? In Canada, some of the banks have ditched the magstripe, so not sure how scalable this is - since the encryption on the chip is specifically engineered to prevent this kind of interception.
This is awesome but I'm concerned about how it would be too easy to switch cards (accidentally). In the FAQ they say it's fine if its dropped, handed into a booklet, etc. Sounds fine in theory but what happens when you hand the card to the waiter/bartender and they happen just to grab it where the circle is? Won't that change the card?<p>Another concern is in bars - your CC# gets a tiny bit wet (drunk ppl, spilled drinks on table, etc.). Does this card stop working if its splashed a little?<p>My two cents.<p>This is awesome though.
While copying magstripes is already easy, no merchant will accept a stock magstripe card for a credit transaction, because it's clearly fraudulent.<p>If merchants will accept coin, it creates trust for this devices, and lookalikes. I think it would be much easier to create Coins, or Coin clones with stolen credit card data. This is rather concerning.<p>On another note, I really want one of these to tear apart and mess with. The hardware is pretty slick.
From the FAQ:<p><i>Q. Can I lock my Coin?</i><p><i>A. Currently you cannot lock your Coin, but you don’t have to. Coin will automatically deactivate if it loses contact with your phone for a period of time that you configure in the Coin mobile app.</i><p>Bummer! Seems like there should be a way to use your phone to lock it down. Either way this is cool as hell.
The iCache (from 2007) had an interesting solution to the security issue that everyone is mentioning:<p><i>[A]ctivate the device with a fingerprint on its biometric strip, scroll through a list of cards on its screen and choose one. Out pops a plastic card with a magnetic stripe, temporarily loaded with the chosen card's data. Just swipe the card and pop it back into the iCache. After one use, the information on the card disappears.</i><p><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/23/technology/one_credit_card.biz2/index.htm?section=money_pf" rel="nofollow">http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/23/technology/one_credit_card.b...</a><p>Although I'm not sure if the information disappears after the swipe or after it's loaded back into its case.
Something not answered by the FAQ: when the battery starts to die, do you get some kind of a warning? If so, great. If not, I'd be worried that one day my battery would die without warning while I'm out of town and I'd be stuck without access to any of my cards.<p>Of course I could mitigate this by carrying my cards with me, but that kind of defeats the point, right?<p>I suppose I could also replace it after two years like they suggest in the FAQ. But at $100 a pop I'd like to get as much use as possible out of it. And from the usage numbers they cite for the 2-year estimate, it sounds like you could probably get well over 2 years of battery life in practice.
Why wouldn't a VC back this and subsidize their business model until they could get critical mass, then sell to retailers and create the first real competitor for the major card companies.<p>Conversely, if I were MasterCard or visa I would bar merchants from taking this card for my transactions to maintain competitive advantage.
Programmable mag stripe cards are really nothing new. This implementation is quite nice and sexy though. I can see immediate problems with it though:<p>1) Card thickness. Most makers of programmable mag stripe cards try to make their card the same thickness as a normal sized credit card. Why? Because thicker cards might scrape or get stuck in credit card readers (as old Amex black cardholders know). Unfortunately it has to be think because of the following:<p>2) Older iterations of this idea usually involved the bank/card issuer supplying cards with multiple card numbers preloaded on it. This card in novel in the sense that it has some writable memory that you can personally store your existing cards to. However this involves a few elements that add to the thickness of the card: It involves a non-volatile memory module for storing the cards, it involves a volatile memory module for holding information about new cards, it involves a bluetooth module for communicating between the volatile memory and your smartphone and it involves a battery to run it all.<p>3) The battery is non-rechargeable (because any existing type of charging point would add too much to the thickness), so the card only lasts for a specific length of time before needing to be replace.<p>4) There is a move away from mag stripe everywhere in the world but the US as mag stripe is really shit compared to chip and PIN for security. Even in the US, mag stripe will be phased out within the next 10 years. This card can't even store CVC security codes (the 3 digits on the back of your normal card).<p>5) They have added a security feature that ties the card to your smartphone such that it becomes "deactivated" (locks the non-volatile memory) once it is loses contact with your smartphone for too long. What this means in essence is that you cant use your card without your smartphone. So that begs the question: Why would the consumer adopt this instead of adopting a smartphone based NFC wallet if its available to them? Google Wallet stores any credit card I put on it, and if the merchant doesn't support NFC Google Wallet still displays an image of the card for manual number input. You might say that a merchant might get scared away from a transaction if you ask them to do that, but a merchant might get scared away by asking them to run a unfamiliar looking unmarked black card.<p>Regardless of the above, it is cool stuff and there is a niche that it will be useful for, at least until chip and PIN / NFC wallets become widespread in the US. I'm working on some similar ideas so I thought I'd toss in my two cents.
> Coins are designed to last for 2 years under normal usage and do not need to be recharged.<p>Awesome!<p>> Once the battery dies you will need to replace your Coin.<p>Does the replacement cost money? If yes, I think I'll stick with my current situation. Awesome idea though.
Coin is taking something that's outdated -- and unnecessarily physical, and offering a layer of digital on it to create many cards into one.<p>Yes, this is "doable" with existing technology, but not for the common man.<p>Security is going to be an issue, sure. If Kanishk can get the security tech concerns AND human worries calmed down - he's on to something that can fundamentally change how we use credit cards.<p>Until we realize there's really no need for a device this physical... or something beyond what we're currently carrying. But this'll require losing the magnetic strip need, and that'll take time.
I can actually see myself using this. There are times where certain stores have these promotions where I can buy a $30 gift card for $20, but I never bother doing it because I know that I will probably leave the gift card at home the time I come back. I also like the automatic locking feature as well when it loses the bluetooth connection with your phone.<p>Another benefit I see is that it doesn't actually have the credit/debit numbers printed on the card, so nobody could take a picture of your card and use it to fraudulently purchase things online.<p>This + Simple would be perfect.
This product is overly restricting it's market, I feel, since in Europe EMV (or "chip and PIN" as it's known in the UK) is ubiquitous. Payments worldwide are moving over to this system from magnetic strip cards, so I fear that this (useful) product has been invented too late once the tech it relies on is already speedily in decline!<p>I imagine, due to how the cryptography works, it might not be as simple to create a product like this for chipped cards.
The moment this gets turned down by a merchant you visit frequently, there goes the magic. That means you'll have to keep your regular card in your wallet along with your Coin, and the whole value prop comes crashing down. It seems interesting as a novelty, but I'm not sure I'd pay $100 to play with the cool kids in this case.
I have mixed opinions on this - it feels like a cosmetic solution to a somewhat non-problem.<p>Would I carry it?<p>As of yet - no, I would rather use iphone apps etc.<p>The other problem that it misses is the show that people like to make of using a certain card.<p>I have an amex platinum for business purposes, but I still get a bit of thrill every time I use it and I get a look, how does Coin approach that problem?
"Q. Will my Coin work outside the U.S.?
A. Not in all cases.<p>U.S.-based customers: Coin will work overseas, but we recommend that you bring a backup card when you travel.<p>Customers located outside of the U.S.: Coin does not support EMV yet. If the country you live it requires it we recommend holding off your purchase for now."<p>Found this in FAQ section.
$100/2 years lifetime for something that is just a bump in convenience seems high. I was real excited but don't think I'll find it worth it at that price.<p>A "better" solution would be a reverse square. Something that connected to my phone / had an app that I could then swipe in a card reader.
Moving beyond all the security concerns and potential technology shifts in this space, I'd be concerned with durability. By the time my credit cards expire, I typically have had to replace them at least once due to wear.<p>I'm not charged an additional fee to get those cards, but this would cost me.
This looks like a copy of GEODE, a failed Kickstarter project from iCache in 2012.<p><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1404403369/geode-from-icache" rel="nofollow">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1404403369/geode-from-ic...</a>
"Coin (YC W13) launched a universal credit card"<p>Title is incorrect here, Coin hasn't yet launched anything besides a pre-order website.<p>GIGAOM's title here is "Meet Coin, a startup creating a universal credit card"
This would not work in my country, since most places also ask for an ID to check you are the owner of the credit card. Maybe for debit cards ( because of the pin), but I can see it raising some fraud alerts ;)
C'mon guys. Let's ease up. It's an elegant product in a physical package that I think most everyday people would use, especially if they're able to get the price down to free like square.<p>The real issue I see is that I don't want to carry a phone AND a card. I just want to pay with my iPhone 5S + thumbprint.<p>Or, if I'm in NYC and want to go running through the streets slash central park, I want to pay with my iPod Nano for the train, for some water, and even some food.<p>Heck, take it a step further. Just imbed a bluetooth chip inside my thumb so I just have to press it to a payment terminal anywhere.<p>It's just a roadmap, but you have to start somewhere.
Dynamics Inc out of Pittsburgh created the first card with a programmable magnetic strip in 2010. I wonder if Coin is licensing their technology. Does anyone know?
Really excited about this. I'm a huge fan of carrying as little as possible, and this alone will remove 90% of what's still in my pockets today.
This will never succeed, because having too many cards to keep track of is a $100 problem for only a small percentage of the population.<p>Also, I just bought one.