I’ve always been interested in gadgets and willing to try out new things.
In 2013, a company announced the Coin Card. The idea was that you could have a card that had a configurable magnet stripe on it and it would allow you to not have to carry multiple cards. I thought it was a neat idea and I ordered it in 2013 with the expected ship date of 2014.
But it didn’t ship until 2015.
Here’s a review of it I wrote back in July of 2015:
So, after a year delay, I finally received my Coin card.
Some first thoughts:
It comes in a very nice box which I appreciate after having to wait an extra year. The card looks like a credit card as it is the same shape and thickness.
You need to download the Coin app in order to set it up. Not a big deal for me since I had already downloaded ahead of time. Using Bluetooth, you pair the card with the phone.
You add cards by using the included card reader dongle. You plug the dongle into the headphone jack and swipe each card you want to add. And you need to do this as it won’t verify the card until you do. You can add credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards and gift cards. Basically anything that uses a magnetic stripe.
Once the cards are added, you can use the Coin card. The front has a single button and a e-ink display. Click the button once to unlock it. This wont work though unless your phone is in proximity. The display will show what kind of card it is(Visa, Mastercard, etc.), the last 4 digits of the card number and the expiration date. Clicking the button again, switches to the next card.
Today, I used it at Target and at an ATM. It worked as advertised. What I don’t know what will happen is when a cashier asks for ID with the card. It has my name on, but it looks like a very weird credit card.
One of the drawbacks is that has a non-replaceable battery. So when the battery dies, you have to get a new card. The company claims that the battery has a two year lifespan. This is just as well. With the rollout of NFC readers and the transition to credit cards with chips, this device will be obsolete in a couple of years anyway.
As it turns out, Apple Pay on my phone and watch obsoleted the product anyway.
They were eventually bought by FitBit and then shutdown in 2017
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/02/01/coin-shutdown-services-february-28/