151–160 of 182 posts
I just invented something similar. Though it only supports a maximum of 4 cards, at scale it would cost ~500x less. I call it "penny." Here's my prototype: http://imgur.com/49auKC4
Hmm, pretty neat hack! I like the idea a lot. I'm disappointed that they didn't mention that this is hooked to an online service until you get well into their FAQ: 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 y…
The cloud part concerns me just from a functionality point of view. Does it require internet connectivity just for basic operation? It doesn't seem totally clear. I would certainly hope not. I hate to sound incredibly cynical, but this sounds like a perfect example of Silicon Valley fluff that will never become mainstream. They aren't even the first SV company to be working on this product.
You picked a valid point of concern (if Coin requires connectivity for basic operation), assumed the negative, and then used that assumption to denounce the company as "Silicon Valley fluff that will never become mainstream". Stylised: if A then shit -> I think A -> hence shit.
I just invented something similar. Though it only supports a maximum of 4 cards, at scale it would cost ~500x less. I call it "penny." Here's my prototype: http://imgur.com/49auKC4
Hmm, pretty neat hack! I like the idea a lot. I'm disappointed that they didn't mention that this is hooked to an online service until you get well into their FAQ: 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 y…
I think the online service has the potential to be the most valuable part of this whole product. All your transactions, across multiple accounts, tracked in one place allowing breakdowns of your spending and clarity on our outgoings. I also see a big win here for Coin, think Mint but with an opportunity to also suggest better products & services to spend your money on (since they'll know almost everything you're buyi…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Really? I'm very surprised. Canada has moved over many years ago. I thought we'd be following the US here. The US banking system is incredibly antiquated compared to Canada's (and much of the rest of the world's).
That's because you need Royal Assent in order to be a bank in Canada. Unlike the US that has hundreds (if not thousands) of banks, Canada only has 5 (or is it 6 now?) massive banks. Having only a few big banks makes it much easier to roll out new technology.
This isn't really accurate, in that creating a bank nowadays requires only conformation to The Bank Act, not any royal (or by-proxy Governor General) consent. There are 44 domestic or domestic-subsidiary-of-foreign-corporation Schedule 1 banks in Canada, and 600+ credit unions. The big 5 dominate, but more for historical reasons than anything else.
The long prevalence of things like chip-and-pin and email money transfers and other modern amenities that are just starting to show up in the US has more to do with a marked preference for standardization governed by industry consortiums like Interac in Canada, rather than multiple competing, incompatible credit networks that debit piggybacks on top of, I suspect.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The cloud part concerns me just from a functionality point of view. Does it require internet connectivity just for basic operation? It doesn't seem totally clear. I would certainly hope not. I hate to sound incredibly cynical, but this sounds like a perfect example of Silicon Valley fluff that will never become mainstream. They aren't even the first SV company to be working on this product.
> I hate to sound incredibly cynical You picked a valid point of concern (if Coin requires connectivity for basic operation), assumed the negative, and then used that assumption to denounce the company as "Silicon Valley fluff that will never become mainstream". Stylised: if A then shit -> I think A -> hence shit.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't. The FAQ says so. But it also says that it's made for the USA market, which is sufficiently large to generate some serious profit. Not everything has to have global reach or impact.
Sure, but in the spirit of longevity, you're talking about a stop-gap solution at the most. There's also this: they aren't solving a real problem. My wallet going from 1 inch to 1/2 inch isn't a selling point.
Whats to keep a waiter from skimming my card on the sly with this?
Hmm, pretty neat hack! I like the idea a lot. I'm disappointed that they didn't mention that this is hooked to an online service until you get well into their FAQ: 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 y…
I think the online service has the potential to be the most valuable part of this whole product. All your transactions, across multiple accounts, tracked in one place allowing breakdowns of your spending and clarity on our outgoings. I also see a big win here for Coin, think Mint but with an opportunity to also suggest better products & services to spend your money on (since they'll know almost everything you're buyi…
> I think the online service has the potential to be the most valuable part of this whole product.
This is assumed to be from the user's point of view (rather than from the point of view of the company -- generating revenue -- or from an interested 3rd party).
Then you end with this:
> a marketer's dream
So is Coin targeting marketers, and the users are the product to be sold like so many other start-ups to come out of the Valley?
How does this work with the typical credit card setup, ie chip and pin? Do they duplicate the pin of each credit card? In Canada I haven't' seen a place that doesn't use chip and pin for about 3 years now. Can someone shed some light on how they get around this?
All of the Starbucks in the Toronto area that I was going to only started using chips in the last year. Prior to that you had to swipe.