If the mag-stripe emulation is just a simple electromagnet, I'm curious how they detected the position of the read-head in order to modulate the magnet correctly to emulate the data that would otherwise be read at that point of a traditional mag-stripe. Or is it more sophisticated still?
Coin Card Teardown
61–70 of 121 posts
Re: Coin Card Teardown
#62I received my Coin about 2 months ago. I was excited to test it out after preordering almost 2 years in advance. The concept of having all my cards on one central card was a great idea. But having it not work at some locations was rather embarrassing and frustrating. I have decided the Coin was a fail and I will not carry it anymore. But, Coin, keep innovating. You tried.
It sounds like just another startup hardware offering with a spotty launch. But I've always been confused about the perceived "embarrassment" of a card not working at the point of a transaction. This seems to be a common marketing trope in payments, but I don't know what it comes from. It's a piece of technology, and tech often doesn't work quite right. Sometimes my phone restarts itself. What's the big deal?
It's embarrassing because it usually/often indicates you have emptied your checking account or maxed out your line of credit. It's an indication for everyone in earshot that you don't have the means to buy what you're trying to buy. At least, that is where many people's minds go first.
Re: Coin Card Teardown
#63I'm amazed that this idea actually caught on in the first place. "Wait, you mean I can put every single source of (non-cash) money in a single card, for a single point of failure? And if it breaks, I'm effectively penniless? WHERE THE FUCK DO I SIGN UP?!"
Re: Coin Card Teardown
#64I had the beta and a final Coin and neither one were reliable enough to to trust. You HAVE to carry backup cards which more or less defeats the purpose. Then there is the slightly embarrassing, extremely annoying "Your card didn't work/Do you have another card this one isn't swiping". I've stopped carrying my coin altogether because if you have the cards you might as well use the real ones (I tried for 7+ months to u…
The concept is inherently flawed. Never mind changes in the payment infrastructure—the cool factor has apparently outweighed engineering challenges.
This is a (probably less severe) variation of the problem that iCache [1] had. The dynamic magnetic stripe tech was immature then, but mostly, it's just really difficult to put a computer in a thin (read: flexible) object that people are used to abusing. Then consider the need for near-perfect reliability next to the promoted benefit of not carrying other cards, and you're screwed.
1. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1404403369/geode-from-i...
Re: Coin Card Teardown
#65If the mag-stripe emulation is just a simple electromagnet, I'm curious how they detected the position of the read-head in order to modulate the magnet correctly to emulate the data that would otherwise be read at that point of a traditional mag-stripe. Or is it more sophisticated still?
My guess is that this is why they have so many problems. I'd guess that there's probably an accelerometer somewhere to give them an idea of what the swipe velocity is, so they can know how fast to play everything back.
But ultimately the way they've chosen to do this seems to be very difficult, especially if those are two very long single coils. It feels like it would be much easier from the software side if they had made them addressable somehow so that they could control every bit individually by either energizing or not energizing a particular coil. Then you'd have eliminated the swipe speed variable from the equation and a lot of complexity would drop right out.
Honestly looking at this teardown I'm surprised it works at all.
Re: Coin Card Teardown
#66This is the first time I am reading about this product but why mag stripe over smart cards? isn't it less secure and deprecated technology? it seems very useful but relying on mag stripe isn't the best move, no? Perhaps they couldn't "switch cards" while using smart cards so mag stripe was the only solution?
> isn't it less secure and deprecated technology?
Uhhhh...no? I've lived in the US my entire life, and while I've seen pin and chip readers, I've never had a pin and chip card, never known anyone who has ever had one, and never seen one used. Ever.
Re: Coin Card Teardown
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
It sounds like just another startup hardware offering with a spotty launch. But I've always been confused about the perceived "embarrassment" of a card not working at the point of a transaction. This seems to be a common marketing trope in payments, but I don't know what it comes from. It's a piece of technology, and tech often doesn't work quite right. Sometimes my phone restarts itself. What's the big deal?
I have been super broke and unable to pay bills at two points in my life - just out of college and trying to find a job after the dot-come bust, and again when my startup failed. During those bad times, I'd lose track of my finances and a few times couldn't pay for my groceries. I can't describe in words how much I felt like a total, utter failure. All the fears I had about how I was going to pay my bills that month,…
I was living in my car for a month, seems like a short time, but 30 days seemed like years, so I know what intant pang of being unsure. I;m much better off now, but I think that feeling never actually goes away.
I actually create that feeling now by moving all but the bill paying funds to savings. Every 2 weeks it feels like I am broke. It gives me a sense of ownership and a feeling I am in control of the situation.
Re: Coin Card Teardown
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
For what it's worth, all of my banks have already replaced my credit cards with chip-and-pin capable ones in preparation for October's rebalancing of fraud liability between merchants and banks. I can't imagine merchants will be too keen to accept these Coin cards.
Are you sure? I ask because the majority of US card issuers have opted to use chip&signature, not chip&pin cards. In my wallet I only have one chip&pin card (Well Fargo). The rest are chip&signature. Whether or not they send you a PIN is a good indicator of which auth method the card supports.
Hmm. Perhaps not... I hadn't heard of chip & signature until your comment. I set the pin online during card activation, and hadn't thought about it closely. So, it obviously must be chip & signature.
Anyway, that doesn't change that you can't clone the chip's contents. Perhaps you could punch the chip out (like a sim) and array a few of them inside a next-gen type of Coin card.
Chip & signature answers the "Amazon laughs at your chip&pin card" loophole I had been sort of half puzzling over.
Re: Coin Card Teardown
#69What Coin has managed to do in such a thin package is really impressive. It’s a shame they weren’t able to do it more reliably. It's a really cool idea. I actually wonder what the technological hurdle was that held them back - mechanical (reliably magnetizing the coils, easy-to-break components due to narrow size), software (programming issues), or QA (reliable SoCs, reliable builds, reliable solders)?
I suspect flexing the PCB caused the usual problems of hairline cracks in solder joints, resulting in intermittent faults.
Re: Coin Card Teardown
#70Was I the only one who canceled their pre-order after they asked for your social security number?
I cancelled my preorder after I got the app and saw that silly tapping security code. I decided to try out Plastc after that. We'll see what that's like.
After being burnt by Coin at $50, I'm not jumping at the chance to waste $150 with Plastc.