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Coin

onlycoin.com

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Re: Coin

#281

Post by res0nat0r »

yllus wrote: post #93
res0nat0r wrote: post #26

So I have to turn this over to a bartender to keep behind the bar when I go out and drink? If I forget to grab it before I take a cab, now I'm out $100 and ALL of my credit cards. No thanks.

Is that system still popular? I've started lots of tabs in the last few years, and it's always been purely an oral conversation - they only get my card at the end when I'm settling up.

Sure. If you are a regular they probably and some small bar they won't need anything, but if you head to a large nightclub with hundreds of people they'll want a card to keep behind the bar while you have your tab open.

Re: Coin

#282

Post by MPetitt »

thejerz wrote: post #212

Unless I'm missing something: if I lose my Coin card, ALL of my credit and debit cards are compromised. That's a showstopper. A thief could drain not just one account, but every account I have.

The way it looks is that it is connected to your cellphone via bluetooth or something of that sort (since it notifies you when it is out of range from your card). An easy solution would be for the card to auto wipe when disconnected from your phone, then re-download all the cards from the app when you reconnect. Problem solved!

Re: Coin

#283

Post by liyanchang »

busterarm wrote: post #254
Nursie wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why the US hasn't adopted EMV. It's not perfect, but it has cut down fraud massively here in Europe. They're very hard to clone (I won't say impossible, but attacks against EMV have not generally been of this nature) and the transaction records at both ends will tell you whether the actual, real card was there. The liability is more clear-cut as a result. If the customer claims the charge was unauthorise…

I want chip and pin cards SO BADLY here. Mainly because it would make my trips to Europe a lot easier, where many systems I've encountered won't work on some non-EMV cards.

Chase Sapphire Preferred offers EMV cards[0] and no foriegn exchange charges. Makes a good travel card.

[0] Technically: chip-and-signature rather then chip-and-pin. Also, you have to ask for the EMV but they're super friendly about it.

Re: Coin

#284

Post by DEinspanjer »

::Sigh:: It sounds exciting.. but so did/do all the others trying to do the same or similar things. Unfortunately, banking regulations and reluctance to push technological boundaries at the risk of being liable or losing money are the big hurdles to clear here. Another slightly smaller hurdle is being able to design a product that is high enough quality and durable enough to survive without costing way too much.

The first one I ever heard about was back in 1999, PocketVault from Chameleon Networks. They lingered with a website that was updated every couple of years promising a release soon.

Next came the iCache. That one did a Kickstarter and actually made it out to market... sorta. I have one, but the company ran into huge manufacturing issues and folded under very odd circumstances.

A few others I've kept an eye on are:

Dynamics, Inc. Card 2.0 -- Was supposed to come out with exactly this product.. ended up doing a very reduced feature set that lets you just select A or B rewards.

Protean Echo -- Same concept. Originally promised 2013 but recently updated saying they weren't ready yet.

There was another that was a similar concept company/site, but I can't find a link to it or remember the name at the moment. :/

There is also a recent company that had a successful Kickstarter: Loop. Rather than a programmable credit card, they are hacking the magnetic readers themselves by making a mobile phone case or dongle that emits a magnetic field that tricks the reader into registering a card swipe. Pretty neat stuff to compete with the struggling NFC solution, but unfortunately, it isn't 100% compatible with all swipe readers, and totally incompatible with dip readers.

Re: Coin

#285

Post by rmc »

Nursie wrote: post #219
nlh wrote: post #167

SUPER clever idea -- kudos for that. In theory, this is awesome. As a consumer, I love it. As a merchant, however (which I am), there is no chance I would accept this. None. Unless the issuers (that is, Visa, MC, Amex) drastically change their policies, which I don't see happening anytime soon. Why? Because the issuers are very clear about a few things: When push comes to shove and it REALLY gets down to it, unless t…

I don't know why the US hasn't adopted EMV. It's not perfect, but it has cut down fraud massively here in Europe. They're very hard to clone (I won't say impossible, but attacks against EMV have not generally been of this nature) and the transaction records at both ends will tell you whether the actual, real card was there. The liability is more clear-cut as a result. If the customer claims the charge was unauthorise…

Americans going to Europe: Remember that your credit card might not work as often in Europe. Be prepared for hearing "We only take chip & pin cards here" in shops etc.

Re: Coin

#286

Post by ams6110 »

fps wrote: post #266
Nursie wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Errr, did you read the part where fraud has dropped massively? And liability is more clear-cut and reasonable for pretty much all parties? --edit-- and did you think us Europeans just rolled it out for shits and giggles?

Credit card fraud is generally not a problem in the US for consumers or the credit card companies, the two groups that would be in a position to adopt a new credit card technology. The merchants accept all the liability in the US credit card system, and they're at the mercy of the credit card company's policies, and the consumer's desire to use their card of choice or go somewhere else. As a consumer, I avoid cash-on…

The merchants generally do have the liability for fraud, but ultimately this "cost of doing business" is reflected in higher prices to the consumer.

Re: Coin

#287

Post by rmc »

jhandl wrote: post #190
nlh wrote: post #167

SUPER clever idea -- kudos for that. In theory, this is awesome. As a consumer, I love it. As a merchant, however (which I am), there is no chance I would accept this. None. Unless the issuers (that is, Visa, MC, Amex) drastically change their policies, which I don't see happening anytime soon. Why? Because the issuers are very clear about a few things: When push comes to shove and it REALLY gets down to it, unless t…

I love the idea behind Coin but what I need is a fat wallet. I carry 19 cards, of which 16 are essential. Some of them are not for swiping so they wouldn't benefit from Coin. The solution for me is a wallet that can hold 20 to 30 cards, but as far as I can tell there's no such thing.

Get a little plastic wallet designed for holding business cards? Use it for credit cards?

Re: Coin

#288

Post by rmc »

MiguelHudnandez wrote: post #207
jhandl wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the idea behind Coin but what I need is a fat wallet. I carry 19 cards, of which 16 are essential. Some of them are not for swiping so they wouldn't benefit from Coin. The solution for me is a wallet that can hold 20 to 30 cards, but as far as I can tell there's no such thing.

I think in your scenario, a good fit would be a cigarette case that you'd keep in your front pocket. I'd love to have one with a classy finish and that would block NFC signals from leaking. I ended up ditching all but essential cards and got down to five. One debit, credit, health insurance, license, and AAA.

I think in your scenario, a good fit would be a cigarette case that you'd keep in your front pocket.

Eurpean here. I was shocked to learn many USAian men keep their wallet in the back pocket. How do you sit on that?

Re: Coin

#289

Post by superuser2 »

joezydeco wrote: post #104

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.

A magstripe is literally just a flat strip of magnetic tape, like an audio cassette. Devices like Square Reader just encode the magstripe as audio into an iPhone's mic input. You could save that to a Voice Memo, stick the playhead from a RadioShack 3.5mm/cassette adapter in a reader, and press play. Can't find it, but I've seen a demonstration on YouTube of someone doing this to enter their apartment building.

The TV show White Collar's pilot has a cool depiction of Neil Caffrey copying a guard's magnetic stripe badge using a tape deck by recording it to tape, then playing it back through the record (write) head on the other side of the tape player while he slid a new card through. It would be hard to get the timing right, but there's no reason this shouldn't work.

It's incredibly primitive technology, as is simple RFID - the cloning process isn't much more difficult. Fortunately my university uses HID iCLASS contactless smart cards - there is actually a cryptographic handshake between the reader and my student ID which is resistant to replay attacks. If implemented correctly, it's impossible to copy the electronic access control portion of a student ID without the university's private keys. (The same access control infrastructure that's on my dorm's main entrance also guards healthcare information, nuclear and virology labs, etc. so that makes sense.)

Re: Coin

#290

Post by newman314 »

Love the concept but the security worries me. Looking on the site, there is (as expected) not much information about security.

RED FLAGS:

* Coin is in the process of earning a PCI certification. This should have been done before launch. Also, what level? * Coin uses 128/256bit for security but HOW and WHERE? * Coin essentially skims cards (through the reader) to playback for terminals. I don't see how they can say with a straight face that it is less susceptible to the same techniques. * Adding what are supposed to be funny Q&As to a FAQ trivializes what are supposed to be important questions for people thinking about using this. * I understand the love of "the cloud" but I wish people would also consider scenarios for a disconnected model. These are solutions that do not necessarily require a full time connection.

I could see using this for pre-paid gift cards but not for my actual credit cards.

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