I carry a wallet (the ALL-ETT) that’s marketed as the world’s thinnest wallet. It’s leather on the outside and parachute material on the inside. Because of the design, my wallet can hold a lot of plastic and cash and still be extremely thin.
Now there’s a new company that has a technological solution to store all your credit cards, debit cards, ID cards, everything on 1 simple little credit card sized electronic device.
It’s called Coin. You load your cards onto it and it stores all their info. Before a transaction, you select which card you want to use. Then you hand it over and it swipes just like regular card, activating the account you’ve told it to.
Coin currently costs $50 on special for early adopters, but will normally sell for $100. Because it’s battery powered, Coin can be expected to last about 2 years until it croaks.
Several people asked me about this, wondering if I think it’s a good idea. Well, leave it to the tech bloggers to shoot down any potentially promising good idea.
The terms of service make it not ready for primetime: “You are solely responsible for your own losses or losses incurred by Coin and others due to any unauthorized use of your account.”
As one reporter put it, if it’s lost, stolen, or damaged…you’re problem!
With any technology, the question is what happens to your consumer protections. It’s like the difference between credit cards and debit cards. Credit cards have consumer protections, and debit cards not so much.
With anything where you involve your money, you’ve got to make sure the terms and conditions aren’t radioactive for your wallet.
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