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Coin

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Re: Coin

#121
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, how many do you have? I think 8 would cover all of the cards I use at least once every 4 months.

About 15. And sure, most I barely use. But sometimes I want to use them and they're in my bag and not in my wallet. This would be a great solution to that problem for me if it could hold all of them.

I have a money clip, and only carry my most pertinent cards - ID, ATM, and CCs. The remaining cards, like reward cards or library cards, are in a tin can in my car - which I drive to wherever I'm shopping, and just remove the card I need. I can't imagine carrying 15+ cards in my pocket, especially if it is in your back pocket.

Re: Coin

#122
post #74
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the FAQ: Q. Does Coin support chip and pin (EMV)? A. Coin is currently designed for the U.S. market and does not support chip and pin (EMV), however, future generations of the device will include EMV.

How on earth is that going to work? Theoretically at least, you can't clone an EMV card. That's kind of the point.

Maybe they'll work with the banks to get the information needed to create the EMV card?

Re: Coin

#123

I wonder how this would fare in an ATM. What happens if the ATM accidentally presses the card selection button? If the ATM gobbles the card, now you've effectively lost your entire wallet. What happens if the cashier presses the card selection button while running your card too? Oops, now your boss wants to know why you've just paid for your groceries on the business credit card and why you've cloned your business cr…

> Oops, now your boss wants to know why you just paid for your groceries on the business credit card and you have to explain that you cloned your business credit card and there was a mistake!!

I'm not sure how every corporate card works, but I have accidentally made purchases on a Corporate Amex before and it's not a problem. I just pay that part off myself and don't mark it to be expensed. Don't see this as a problem.

Re: Coin

#124

Can anyone elaborate how the magstripe trick works? That's the only thing that I can't find, and it's kind of the crucial point of the whole project.

Also, it might trigger fraud warnings:

> Magnetic stripe cloning can be detected by the implementation of magnetic card reader heads and firmware that can read a signature of magnetic noise permanently embedded in all magnetic stripes during the card production process. This signature can be used in conjunction with common two factor authentication schemes utilized in ATM, debit/retail point-of-sale and prepaid card applications. -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card

It might work like a bunch of tiny electromagnets appropriately arranged on the back of the card, like pixels on your screen. These electromagnets can probably be polarized in a particular way to match the original card.

Re: Coin

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the looks of it, it will handle rewards cards and whatnot just fine. If I could just store my Qdoba, Panera, Gameworks, Dave and Busters, REI, Best Buy, Safeway, Kroger, etc. cards on one single card. Now I can keep as many rewards cards as I want, without having to stuff my wallet full of junk I don't need 99% of the time. The money I save from rewards cards I wouldn't normally carry would probably pay for the…

I think you've misread what I wrote. It might be able to handle rewards cards, but the card itself becomes a bottleneck because it can only function as one card at a time. I'd have to select the rewards card, have that swiped, then fumble with the card again to select my payment card and proceed to pay. It seems like a ghastly hassle. If I had this I could see myself using this for rewards cards only. But then again,…

Your fears sound irrational to me. It's just a button, on something already in your hand. I doubt you're going to "fumble" it, or that it's going to be a "ghastly hassle" to press a button one or more times. Once you've shopped at that store at least once, you know exactly how many times to press it to advance to the card you use there. All of this should take less time than putting a rewards card back into your wallet/pocket and taking out a separate credit card, which requires more mechanical actions in which you might "fumble" something.

Re: Coin

#127
post #102

I wonder how this would fare in an ATM. What happens if the ATM accidentally presses the card selection button? If the ATM gobbles the card, now you've effectively lost your entire wallet. What happens if the cashier presses the card selection button while running your card too? Oops, now your boss wants to know why you've just paid for your groceries on the business credit card and why you've cloned your business cr…

As far as "gobbling the card" is concerned, their FAQ states that they can only be used with "dip" ATMs, which may also address the button pushing issue. EDIT: More details from the FAQ: Q. Can someone accidentally change which card is selected on my Coin? A. We’ve designed the button to toggle cards in a way that makes it difficult to trigger a "press" unintentionally. Dropping a Coin, holding a Coin, sitting on a C…

Surely you'll get a waiter that will be curious and intentionally press the button... then what do you think happens?

Re: Coin

#129
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first bit has to be the simplest thing to fix: just require the user to hold it to lock/unlock or some particular sequence of presses.

That sounds more complicated than pulling a card out of my wallet that I've instantly identified by position and color -- something the human brain is really good at doing without much thought. It's far more of a cognitive burden to fumble through a voodoo incantation of keypresses at the register to make the wizard card clone the correct card.

From my understanding, the point of the card isn't to be less of a cognitive burden but to be less bulky in your wallet or w/e

Re: Coin

#130

One of my biggest questions/objections is about the battery life issue. They claim that this will run out juice every 2 years or so and that the battery cannot be replaced, so I'll just need to buy a new one. $100 every two years for this device seems like a pretty big expense, as opposed to $100 one time.

My exact thoughts. Even at 50 dollars, it seems a little too much. Maybe if they lasted 4 years.
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