Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Coin

onlycoin.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

371–380 of 720 posts

Re: Coin

#371

Post by seszett »

kalleboo wrote: post #327
seszett wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a view on another part of the world, just in 2012 in Japan it seemed like about nobody knew about these. Some stores didn't even know they had a pad for entering a PIN, and some didn't know what was the "enter secret code" instruction. I only understood that after a week and maybe ten or so places had told me "your card doesn't work", when some hotel tenant called her daughter to translate things, and she knew ab…

That's odd, how far out in the sticks were you? I've used my european chip card extensively in Japan for the past 3 years with no confusion whatsoever, and most places that take cards have a chip reader that they use immediately. Nobody has ever said my card doesn't work. There's actually way more confusion when I pull out a WAON card or something. It's been more of a problem in places in Thailand and Singapore where…

The first place I had a problem was actually a Honda (I think?) car rental office in Shinjuku, not a place where I expected a problem (and not the easiest thing to pay in cash, though that's what we eventually did).

Then a few hotels and ryokans mostly around Nagano and Toyama. The 7/11 ATMs worked fine though (but the card didn't work to pay directly, it did at Lawson though, IIRC) so we just used cash everywhere, but I liked to keep trying to use the card, as I was really not sure what was happening.

It's in a small hotel in Obama that I finally understood what was happening, after the woman first asked me to "write my secret code" on a piece of paper (she didn't know the keypad was attached to a long cord and that she was supposed to let me enter the PIN myself, her daughter figured - or knew - that).

I don't really remember but I think we just didn't have many issues afterwards, once in the larger cities of the Kansai.

It was kind of a pain to have to use cash so much because my card had a rather low limit on cash withdrawal at foreign ATMs (of course, my other card had been mailed by mistake by my bank to my former place just before I left). I just didn't expect at all that it would be so difficult in Japan.

Re: Coin

#372

Post by untog »

qqg3 wrote: post #352
rmc wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Actually, most places WILL take the old 'swipe' cards. But most cashiers and either never worked with or forgetting about swipe cards. You just have to be very verbal and upfront and let them know yours is a swipe/ swipe and sign job.

Many won't take it though, because of the increased fraud risk. I agree that the majority of cases are simple misunderstanding, but that isn't always the case.

Re: Coin

#373

Post by Dylan16807 »

marcamillion wrote: post #234
pat2man wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BTLE tether, card gets deactivated if its not near your phone.

Does deactivated mean erased? From what I understand...there is some sort of memory chip on the card that stores the credit card numbers and info for every card, right? So what is to stop some chip from bypassing the OS that manages the multiple cards and just reads the raw data? Sure, it may be 128-bit encrypted, but if they have the raw dump - then it's just a matter of brute forcing it to eventually crack it...no?…

'just' a matter of brute-forcing?

No comment.

Re: Coin

#375

Post by Dylan16807 »

WesleyJohnson wrote: post #253
marcamillion wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does deactivated mean erased? From what I understand...there is some sort of memory chip on the card that stores the credit card numbers and info for every card, right? So what is to stop some chip from bypassing the OS that manages the multiple cards and just reads the raw data? Sure, it may be 128-bit encrypted, but if they have the raw dump - then it's just a matter of brute forcing it to eventually crack it...no?…

Well if the coin can be deactivated when it's out of range, that would mean the coin has to be "smart" because it wouldn't be the phone app doing the deactivation but the coin itself. In that case, why couldn't the coin take extreme measures and just wipe its memory? Inconvenient for legitimate situations where the card is out of range and not accidental ones, but I imagine it's quick process to reload the coin with…

Deleting the data to later copy back from the phone doesn't sound extreme or inconvenient to me.

Re: Coin

#377

Post by skue »

If there are any Coin founders hanging out here, this seems like a great idea and cool technology. However, like a number of other commenters, I have a few questions not covered by the FAQ...

The product/fit questions have already been asked, but there's still this: Why is Coin taking pre-orders several months in advance just to raise $50k? I can't help but wonder why a YC company wouldn't just raise the needed $50k from investors?

If this is an attempt to test the market, are you sure that a crowdfunding approach is the best image for a financial company? I want any company dealing with my financial data to be rock solid and reliable, and crowdfunding is the exact opposite of that.

Also, why aren't you collecting shipping addresses? I read your answer in the FAQ, but that makes me twice as concerned. You say, "A lot can happen between now and Summer 2014. For example, you could move. To reduce confusion, we’ll get those details from you once we get a little closer to getting you your Coin."

This is a problem for two reasons: (1) you are emphasizing that the ship date is far in the future, and (2) it comes across as though Coin is run by young founders who move around a lot and don't see value in long term planning. That's the wrong mindset for a company handling financial data.

Re: Coin

#378

Post by sbashyal »

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.

Marriott Rewards Credit Card by Chase offers a Chip and Pin card. They also have a 70K sign-up bonus points going on right now. If you are new to Marriott Rewards, send me an e-mail and I can send you a referral that qualifies both of us for bonus points.

Re: Coin

#379

Post by lucb1e »

Ooooh such a bummer. We just phased out swiping cards altogether about a year ago because of the huge security issues.

Sounds cool, then you think about it, then it turns out pretty useless if they don't partner with everyone.

The demo is very, very good though. Nicely done.

Re: Coin

#380

Post by [deleted] »

daigoba66 wrote: post #294
huhtenberg wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are "electronic" credit cards, they've been around for years and they are flat so not to be usable for offline processing (that's when they take an imprint, you sign it, they take the imprint to the bank and it settles in a week).

Except that you can still use just the CC#, Name, and Expiry to authorize a purchase (both online and offline). I've done this at craft shows and such with vendors that didn't have mobile CC reader/app.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN