Coin 2.0 Smart Payment Device [SOLD OUT]

I think this is a 5-star potential product that is currently closer to 4 stars.Product – The card itself is pretty cool. It’s about the same dimensions as a credit card, but has its own small LCD display, and a magnetic strip that is apparently embedded just under the card surface where it is better protected from wear. The efficient packaging includes the card, instructions, and a small card reader that plugs into your headphone jackSetup – Easy. You download the app (Android or iOS) from your app store. The physical card holds up to 8 of your cards, the app holds an unlimited number; if you have more than 8, you load them all to the app but you specify which 8 to sync (can be changed at any time w/a new sync). You add each card by swiping it through the reader. You provide some personal info for security verification (once), the app activates, then syncs the cards you loaded to the Coin card.Use – If the card is within Bluetooth range of your phone, you take it out, press the button on the card to select which of your cards you’ll be using, and that’s about it. I have my most frequently used card listed first so I usually only press once. If you’re device is not in range, or for some reason you don't have your phone with you (could that really happen?), you tap a secret code into the card, Morse-code style. This originally took a little practice, but now I can do it in under 10 seconds if needed. For those concerned about potential battery drain on your device, there’s a ‘low power’ setting within the app, which reduces device usage at the expense of an approximately 3-5 second delay when first using the card.Compatibility/Acceptance rate – I have experienced (roughly) an 80%+ acceptance rate (I’m in the NYC area if that matters). Some have experienced similar, while other reviewers have noted far lower acceptance rate. I think there’s a lot of confusion that is compounded by recent changes in the way merchants are accepting cards. In short, merchants who have card readers that require EMV chips in cards, but do not YET read NFC wireless, may have difficulty taking this card (more below).True, a less than 100% acceptance rate means that I do have to carry another card with me, but frankly I would have a second with me even if it was 100%, so it doesn’t bother me too much.Security – The security features on this card are great, and I consider it one of the more important reasons to own this card vs. your traditional card. Even credit cards with the most up-to-date security (e.g., EMV chip) can still be used by anyone if you lose your card and until you report it lost/stolen. The nice thing about Coin is that once it leaves your person, it can’t be used. Period. I like that. It also has a locator feature, so if you’re out and about during the day, shopping at a half dozen stores, and accidentally left it behind somewhere, you can actually use the app to find it. Pretty cool.All of your card information is encrypted on the card, so unless it’s been unlocked, I don’t think anyone would be able to read your card – certainly not those who walk around with proximity readers, stealing people’s card info while the card is still in their wallet.Controversy - I believe the controversy stems from a transition that’s going on in the market. Merchants are being asked to install card readers that accept cards with the higher-security EMV chips embedded. In fact, merchants are being told that if they don’t, and a user presents an EMV card, then liability for fraudulent use shifts (from the bank) to them. The Coin card is NOT compatible with PHYSICAL EMV readers, which generally require the card to be ‘inserted’ then removed (vs. swiped), though in most cases the same readers can still accept a swipe (for backwards compatibility purposes). However, the card IS compatible with NFC (near-field communications) readers, which is actually a next-generation technology that is found in most newer, high-end mobile phones. It basically provides roughly the same level of security of EMV, but does it through wireless communication, so instead of having to insert the card, wait, and remove, you simply hold the card within a few inches of the reader and it works.In the near future most merchants will have this, and most banks will issue cards compatible with NFC wireless, at which point I think the compatibility issues with Coin will disappear and it would be a 5-star product IMO. But I think that during this transition time, Coin is at a bit of a disadvantage.With that said, the folks at Coin have built in the capability to update the card’s firmware periodically via updates to the app which sync to the card. Not sure that will solve the current EMV dilemma, but it does provide some reassurance that card users will not be left behind as things change.In summary – it’s not perfect, but it’s useful, progressive, different and kinda cool.PS – Coin has recently added a rewards program that provides offers in the $5 range that, at least so far, seem ‘usable’. For example, I recently received an offer for a $5 Amazon gift card for using my Coin at any Peet’s Coffee location. This is a new program, we’ll have to see how it goes, but what I like most is that the offers have the potential to pay back the cost of the card.

I was originally a backer for the original Coin way back when, canceling my preorder once it became clear that they had no idea about the coming transition to chip cards. Recently I heard about 2.0 and decided to investigate the NFC feature on it (the useful life of the magstripe on the card is rapidly growing short so I didn't even consider it for that). Unfortunately it still falls far short of where it should be.Coin 2.0 is attractive in that you can use NFC in a card-shaped form factor. Surely that's better than tapping a $500 phone, right? You'd think so, but you'll need a supporting bank first (at the very least, Chase and Capital One). "At least" because the Coin support person I emailed had no idea about the exact banks they've partnered with.That brings up another point--their support apparently hasn't changed much since I had a preorder. When I added two Chase credit cards to the Coin app the app didn't recognize that they were NFC capable right away. I emailed Coin after about a day or so and got a response a day later stating in effect that they couldn't do anything if the app didn't show the NFC logo on the card. It was a moot point though because they pushed an update on the iOS App Store that suddenly caused those two cards to have the logo. I tried tapping it at a live credit card terminal (the vending machine at my workplace) and was able to get my sugary snacks with no issue.I returned home from work today and installed an NFC card reader app on my Android tablet. Tapping Coin onto the tablet resulted in some interesting insights. In a bad way, unfortunately. First off, Coin is using the old style "magnetic stripe" form of NFC. That would be fine except that Visa set a deadline of April 2016 to get rid of that functionality at the terminal level for those stores that have chip card support. Meaning if Coin doesn't add EMV support to the firmware in time, NFC may stop working at many of your favorite stores. Not good.Something even more worrying than that though is the fact that they don't seem to be using tokenization at all. From what I can tell, the card number and expiration date transmitted through NFC is the exact same as what's on Coin's (and the physical card's) magnetic stripe. If a retailer has another POS breach like Target or Home Depot's, I could very well need the physical card that I used replaced. And once that card's replaced I'd have to add it to Coin all over again and deal with the issue I had above, assuming that update above didn't fix it and it's not actually not fixed by then. It also doesn't support signature/PIN for cardholder verification, which means you may have acceptance issues if you try to tap for amounts larger than $50 or so.Coin also doesn't seem to have taken into account the possibility that customers and/or merchants simply don't want NFC. A news report from a couple days ago puts Apple Pay usage at only around 2% or so more than a year into its rollout. Lots of places still have NFC disabled on their terminals even with chip enabled and/or have their new chip capable/enabled terminals somewhere that customers can't touch. On a properly optimized terminal (Walgreens for instance), chip and signature only takes 1-2 extra seconds longer than NFC; with most retailers not even bothering to ask for a signature for small amounts regardless of how one uses their cards, the time savings may not be worthwhile for most once we're farther along in the transition. If people already don't use NFC at the places it's enabled, how will other retailers be able to justify enabling it? It's a chicken and egg situation that might not be resolved simply through terminal upgrades, despite what some think.Considering all of that, I'm seriously thinking about returning Coin and sticking with Apple Pay. Sure you have to tap a phone, but the various Pays have all of the features that Coin should have had from the start: tokenization, much more bank support, integration with a device you likely already own, the list goes on. I'm also way more confident in getting support from Apple than Coin if something were to go wrong. And if NFC doesn't pan out, my physical cards still work in the chip slot. Maybe Plastc will actually come through with their support for chip and be the product Coin should have been. We'll see in any case.