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Plastc will cease operations and will not fulfill any pre-orders

plastc.com

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Re: Plastc will cease operations and will not fulfill any pre-orders

#51

Post by chrisseaton »

egeozcan wrote: post #38
tacostakohashi wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was always bemused about this idea that putting multiple credit cards on a single physical card is some great feature that a lot of people want and would pay money for. In my experience, having many credit cards is a complete pain to manage, because for each card you need to monitor the statement, set up the automatic payment (or do it manually), change the address when you move, etc, etc, and no sane person is goi…

What I don't understand is the need for multiple credit cards. I have a bank card (an EC-card) and I haven't used my credit-card since a month (other than automatic transactions).

Why would you ever use a EC card instead of a credit card? Credit card companies literally pay you to use their cards. Why turn down that money?

I carry two credit cards because one is American Express and pays me more but fewer places accept it, so I have a backup Visa that pays me a bit less but everywhere accepts it.

Re: Plastc will cease operations and will not fulfill any pre-orders

#52

Post by vkou »

Nition wrote: post #31
vkou wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the sake of posterity: "Flip Your Coin For A $50 Discount Coin has been acquired and is now defunct. Or in other words, they sold you out. Don’t worry, Plastc’s got your back. We’re giving you the opportunity to trade-up your extinct card for $50 off a Plastc Card pre-order. Looks like you’re back in business! Flip your Coin Enter your email below and click “Trade-Up” Instantly receive a $50 discount when you pla…

Hi, I'm interested in signing up for your card but I have one question first: When you inevitably abandon the project and take my money, can I expect a detailed blog post about your "incredible journey" or maybe your "amazing bet" to disrupt the market? That's what I really sign up to these things for.

Yes. We promise to be the most accountable and transparent smart credit card company in the world. We will be so transparent that we will spring the news that we ran out of money and you are out of your preorder on you through our Chapter 11 filing.

Re: Plastc will cease operations and will not fulfill any pre-orders

#53

Post by processing »

Understand launching hardware is hard but where did the $9 million pre-order money go?

Also they just took Series A? $4.3M

https://www.crunchbase.com/funding-round/7fb2ab81232afc3adf4....

They've just deleted all social profiles https://twitter.com/plastcinc https://www.facebook.com/PlastcInc/

Re: Plastc will cease operations and will not fulfill any pre-orders

#54

Post by patryn20 »

After canceling my pre-order in November I had hoped I was wrong about their future. However it seems that chasing more and more features (massive scope creep since the initial product) while being behind the curve on basics such as chip and pin was just too much for them to overcome.

Re: Plastc will cease operations and will not fulfill any pre-orders

#56

Post by vkou »

jedberg wrote: post #29
robbiep wrote: post #25

It's borderline criminal how these guys were advertising their gear on instagram up until very recently, as though they were literally just about to ship. And they're not the only ones who have been advertising vapourware on instagram as though they are a day away from shipping

In their defense, until today they thought they were going to get funded and actually be able to deliver.

In their non-defense, they also promised accountability and transparency. If you are one signature away from bankruptcy, you may want to be transparent about that, before taking un-refundable preorders.

Or you could do the responsible thing and keep preorder money in escrow.

Madoff was also only a few signatures from having his Ponzi scheme staying afloat.

Re: Plastc will cease operations and will not fulfill any pre-orders

#57

Post by jahnu »

reubensutton wrote: post #41
xiaodown wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, for reference, I'm a guy who has multiple cards. I have two debit cards and a credit card. The credit card is a credit card (and I mostly use it for company purchases that get reimbursed). The two debit cards correspond to two different checking accounts. I have a "main" checking account that my check gets deposited into, and another account that I use for, mainly, online purchases or recurring subscriptions like…

On the London transport network you've been able to pay at the barriers with a contactless credit card in the same way as you would use an Oyster card for a couple of years now. It's weird that other transport networks haven't adopted it yet

Such a system has been in use in Singapore for more than 15 years.

Vienna does away with all of this fuss by simply doing random checks, issuing on the spot fines for fare evaders, and not having to manage the expense of turnstiles etc.

Re: Plastc will cease operations and will not fulfill any pre-orders

#58

Post by Nition »

vkou wrote: post #52
Nition wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, I'm interested in signing up for your card but I have one question first: When you inevitably abandon the project and take my money, can I expect a detailed blog post about your "incredible journey" or maybe your "amazing bet" to disrupt the market? That's what I really sign up to these things for.

Yes. We promise to be the most accountable and transparent smart credit card company in the world. We will be so transparent that we will spring the news that we ran out of money and you are out of your preorder on you through our Chapter 11 filing.

Briliant. If you do announce the news, will your posts be hard to decipher as well? I think that's what people are looking for, that marketing spin. I don't want to immediately understand that you're bankrupt and I'll never receive my order; solving it should be like a fun logic puzzle.

Re: Plastc will cease operations and will not fulfill any pre-orders

#60

Post by moeadham »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #33
thomnottom wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like that the first comment points out that they would be useless once the chip and pin switch takes place "in a year or so".

Chip & Pin is an interesting beast. Canada went straight to Chip & Pin, skipping over Chip & Sign. Since credit cards generally didn't have PINs at the time, there was a little work on the part of the issuing banks to assign PINs. One of my cards came with a letter that said "Use the same PIN as you use with your regular bank card", another came with one that said "Here's your new PIN, you can change it at any of our…

Chip + Sign reduces 80% of classic fraud. Chip + PIN reduces ~98% (last I heard in 2016).

Someone I spoke to at capital one said that Visa/MS decided to do Chip+Sign in the US due to the increased support costs of forgotten PINs.

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