In this day and age, a lot of things that weren’t digital or “smart” now are or are about to get there. For us Americans, our payment methods might seem slightly primitive compared to the Europeans with their chipped credit cards, or the Japanese, who pay with their cell phones. We do have Google Wallet and iOS Passbook, but if you still prefer to pay with something with a magnetic strip, you’ll soon have another option.
The Coin is pretty much a “smart” credit card that can essentially replace all of the credit, debit, and gift cards that you carry. The card is controlled by an app installed to your iOS or Android phone, and is connected to your phone via Bluetooth. The Bluetooth connection also doubles as a security feature. If the connection between the phone and card are lost, the phone will vibrate and the card will shut down. When using the card to pay, a button on the card allows you to cycle through the cards you have saved inside of the app.
Seems like a great idea, but if you want one, you’ll have to pay $50 and wait until the release next summer, when it will go on sale for $100. You’ll have to ask yourself if that’s worth the ability to leave your “free” cards at home.