Earlier this week, Isis launched its wireless payment system nationwide, which uses NFC on your phone to pay for stuff in shops. Paying using your phone this way hasn’t taken off, at least not in the US and Europe, and now there’s another option for those who think cash and multiple cards are outdated. It’s called Coin, but it should really be called Card, because it’s a card which stores all your other cards in one place.
This would be a pain if there was no way to tell which one you were about to use, unless you like to gamble with your company’s account, so there’s a little digital display which provides the last four digits of the card number, the bank name, and the expiry date. A big, friendly button underneath lets you cycle through the stored cards, until you get to the one you want.
With the right card selected, Coin swipes through payment machines just like any other, and it even works in ATM machines.
All that sounds pretty good, but it gets better. Coin uses Bluetooth Low Energy to connect to your phone, and should you leave it at home or in a store, then your phone lets you know. The security benefits of this alone make Coin a better prospect than carrying a regular credit card.
Coin can store up to eight different cards, and each one is swiped through a reader attached to your phone before being zapped over to the master card. Credit cards, debit cards, bank cards, gift cards, and membership cards work with Coin. The little battery used to drive the display and Bluetooth connection should last for around two-years, and there’s an emergency setting which renders the whole thing useless should it get lost.
You can pre-order Coin right now for $55 including shipping, but it won’t be available until summer next year. If you wait and don’t order now, Coin’s price will rise to $100. You can find it here, but be warned, you’ll have to pay for Coin right now, not when it’s ready to be delivered.