Final – A credit card built for the 21st century • Hacker News Board

Re: Final – A credit card built for the 21st century

#11

Post by notJim » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 4:57 PM UTC

arfrank wrote: post #2

CTO/Co-Founder of Final here. Final is what we built to take back control of our own credit cards for how and when we’re charged, instead of leaving it up to merchants. That led to merchant-specific numbers and limits, managed automatically, as well as transparency in statements. It’s our stake in the ground, a way to shift the culture in credit towards consumer friendliness. Happy to answer questions

One of the problem w/ traditional credit cards is that my interests are not aligned with those of the card issuer. It's better for me to pay off my balance every month, but better for my bank if I don't so they can collect interest.

Will this be any different with Final? If so, how do you plan to make money?

Re: Final – A credit card built for the 21st century

#12

Post by tkmcc » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 4:58 PM UTC

otoburb wrote: post #3

arfrank wrote: post #2

CTO/Co-Founder of Final here. Final is what we built to take back control of our own credit cards for how and when we’re charged, instead of leaving it up to merchants. That led to merchant-specific numbers and limits, managed automatically, as well as transparency in statements. It’s our stake in the ground, a way to shift the culture in credit towards consumer friendliness. Happy to answer questions

Will the physical card have a number embossed on it, similar to other cards? Or can the physical card number be changed in some way (e.g. Plastc's demo supposedly leveraging e-ink display on the card[1])? Also, does Final aim to become a credit card payments processor similar to Visa, Mastercard, et. al., or will you be leveraging a banking/credit institution in the backend to start with? [1] https://news.ycombinator…

I was wondering about the number embossing as well. I could see it confusing or sketching out some cashiers, especially with all the recent news about credit card fraud. I like the e-ink idea that Plastc had and would be very attracted to this card if it had that just for ease of use.

Re: Final – A credit card built for the 21st century

#13

Post by Someone1234 » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 4:59 PM UTC

> Final lets you give a unique credit card number to every merchant, or a disposable one-time use number for one-off purchases.

This is something I have been asking for since forever! People on here claimed it was "impossible" because of how credit cards work, I guess not...

> Tired of your monthly yoga pants subscription? Or a two-week "free" trial that lasted four months? Just deactivate that card number. It's that easy.

They need to be careful what they advise. That advice could (and likely WILL) result in people getting taken to collections.

Don't like your ISP? Just cancel the CC number, then 12 months later get a bailiff turn up and seize your stuff...

Re: Final – A credit card built for the 21st century

#14

Post by antidaily » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 4:59 PM UTC

arfrank wrote: post #2

CTO/Co-Founder of Final here. Final is what we built to take back control of our own credit cards for how and when we’re charged, instead of leaving it up to merchants. That led to merchant-specific numbers and limits, managed automatically, as well as transparency in statements. It’s our stake in the ground, a way to shift the culture in credit towards consumer friendliness. Happy to answer questions

Ben Affleck as Batman... thoughts?

Re: Final – A credit card built for the 21st century

#15

Post by johng » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 5:00 PM UTC

Aloha wrote: post #9

arfrank wrote: post #2

CTO/Co-Founder of Final here. Final is what we built to take back control of our own credit cards for how and when we’re charged, instead of leaving it up to merchants. That led to merchant-specific numbers and limits, managed automatically, as well as transparency in statements. It’s our stake in the ground, a way to shift the culture in credit towards consumer friendliness. Happy to answer questions

Your signup link doesnt work with IE9, it just gives a page cannot be displayed error.

For nerds, we know to enter our email address into the box... but I would add some text above it for the regular folk who just say "wtf do I type into this box"

Re: Final – A credit card built for the 21st century

#16

Post by darkstar999 » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 5:02 PM UTC

bigboxesofwine.gov doesn't exist. I am disappoint.

This is awesome though. It's like what 33mail.com does for email addresses, but even better.

Re: Final – A credit card built for the 21st century

#17

Post by pbreit » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 5:02 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #13

> Final lets you give a unique credit card number to every merchant, or a disposable one-time use number for one-off purchases. This is something I have been asking for since forever! People on here claimed it was "impossible" because of how credit cards work, I guess not... > Tired of your monthly yoga pants subscription? Or a two-week "free" trial that lasted four months? Just deactivate that card number. It's that…

Disposable credit card numbers have been around for decades. The user experience has historically been miserable. Maybe this will be better. Doubt it.

Re: Final – A credit card built for the 21st century

#18

Post by boca » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 5:03 PM UTC

Interesting concept that solves an actual problem. It will be interesting to see what kind of pricing they will adopt.

P.S. The button next to the "Reserve your card" looks pretty similar to Telegram's app icon.

Re: Final – A credit card built for the 21st century

#19

Post by toomuchtodo » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 5:03 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #13

> Final lets you give a unique credit card number to every merchant, or a disposable one-time use number for one-off purchases. This is something I have been asking for since forever! People on here claimed it was "impossible" because of how credit cards work, I guess not... > Tired of your monthly yoga pants subscription? Or a two-week "free" trial that lasted four months? Just deactivate that card number. It's that…

Counterpoint.

If you get taken to collections over a trivial amount (Have to go to court for collections? The first words out of your mouth need to be, "Verify the debt." Ask them to produce the document you signed and agreed to. In the vast majority of cases, without this, your case will be dropped with prejudice. This is based on research I did while dealing with a personal mortgage "issue".

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/532/m...

Re: Final – A credit card built for the 21st century

#20

Post by Someone1234 » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 5:04 PM UTC

tkmcc wrote: post #12

otoburb wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will the physical card have a number embossed on it, similar to other cards? Or can the physical card number be changed in some way (e.g. Plastc's demo supposedly leveraging e-ink display on the card[1])? Also, does Final aim to become a credit card payments processor similar to Visa, Mastercard, et. al., or will you be leveraging a banking/credit institution in the backend to start with? [1] https://news.ycombinator…

I was wondering about the number embossing as well. I could see it confusing or sketching out some cashiers, especially with all the recent news about credit card fraud. I like the e-ink idea that Plastc had and would be very attracted to this card if it had that just for ease of use.

I've had situations (recently) where the card machine wasn't working so they manually tapped in the number on the front instead. Without the number and given the same situation I might be left without a working card.