Coin Credit Card Review (see bottom for running Worked, Failed totals).

Last night I received my new Coin and today I used it.

Read on for the details.

 

 

Coin is a single point credit card device that can store all of your credit cards in one convenient place.

 

One by one I swiped my credit cards into the Coin credit card device using the supplied credit card swiper, entered the CVV and my billing zip code into the Coin app on my iPhone and pressed sync.  That’s it! Easypeasy!

 

There is a small window in the card that shows you whether you are using a Visa or Master Card and the last four digits of the card you are using along with it’s expiration date but unless you have these numbers memorized it’s pretty hard to tell which card you’re using.  Luckily I mainly use my debit for everything so its pretty easy to remember.

 

Coin claims that under “normal” usage their Coin device should remain powered for up to 2 years.

 

Pros and Cons (so far):

 

Pros

• Easy to set up
• Works with iPhone and Android
• Can work as a stand alone device
• Alerts you via cell phone to let you know if you leave it behind via distance

Cons

• Didn’t work on first try
• Small window – would rather have a longer horizontal screen that shows more credit card information like account number and credit card name like Chase, Discover, etc..

As you can see I didn’t mention security, that’s because this needs a section all to itself and I’m not sure at the moment as to how secure it actually is.  Coin, says that it automatically locks itself after each time it’s used and the mobile app keeps track of it’s last known location which can help you find it if lost.  I’d like to have the ability to also remotely wipe the device if it’s I can’t find it.

 

First Attempt To Use

Today I thought I’d give it a go during lunch and guess what happened… it didn’t work.  The cashier gave it a funny look, tried to swipe it several times but it just wouldn’t work.  He asked if there were numbers for the credit card because the magnetic strip didn’t appear to be working.  I could have looked up in the Coin app because there is a picture it stores a photo of the credit card with it’s account number but I panicked and pulled out my debit card instead.

 

This is a new product and with a lot of products there will be flaws but I was disappointed that it failed on my first attempt to use it.  Especially, since I was buying lunch for a couple of buddies that were with me.  Hopefully my next attempt later today will be successful.

 

Coin’s Competition, Plastc

Coin has a competitor named “Plastc”.  That’s right, no “i” in the name, just Plastc.  By looking at the information on their site www.plastc.com it looks to me that this card is everything that Coin is and more and just what I’m looking for.

 

In addition to what Coin does, Plastc has a longer, horizontal window on it’s card.  This window shows you the credit card number, valid from and good thru dates, CVV, type of card and I think the name of the company that issued the card like Chase, Discover, Etc..  This will make things a lot easier if the cashier is having trouble with the magnetic strip.

 

Note: Other than being a customer of both Coin and now Plastc, I am in no way connected or in business with either company.

That being said I do have a $20.00 off discount link to share for Plastc.  If I had one for Coin I’d share it but I don’t so I’m very, very sorry.

 

Order Plastc now and get $20.00 off!

I ordered a Plastc card but won’t be able to review it until they ship on April 29th, 2016.  However, when you order one they give you a link to offer it back out to others with a 20% discount plus $20.00 back to me.  You can pre-order one now and get $20.00 off here: https://share.plastc.com

 

To order Coin go here: https://onlycoin.com/

Unfortunately when I ordered Coin there was a 90 day referral program but I’m way past that so I have no discounted link to share for Coin.

 

I’ll report back on this same post to whether Coin works or not so come back later for my updates!

 

Hits and Misses

I’ve been using Coin and for me it works about fifty percent of the time.

See below for my running totals.

Coin also has been keeping track via user input and you can see there results here.

 

Update #1 2015-0821

• Mexican Restaurant = Failed 🙁
• Chevron gas pump = Worked 🙂
• Chevron store = Worked 🙂
• Bank of America ATM = Failed 🙁
  • To be fair, Coin says that some automated machines like the ATM might not work.
• Nob Hill Market = Worked 🙂

 

Update #2

2015-0822

• Chinese Restaurant (Dim Sum) = Failed 🙁

 

Update #3

2015-0823

• Rockin’ Crawfish = Failed 🙁

 

Update #4 

2015-0824

• UPS = Failed 🙁
• Movie Theater = Failed 🙁
• Burger King = Worked 🙂

 

Update #5

2015-0825

• In-N-Out = Worked 🙂

 

Update #6

2015-0826

• Benihana = Worked 🙂
• Casino ATM = Worked 🙂
• Safeway = Worked 🙂
• Taco Bell = Worked 🙂

 

Update #7

2015-0827

• Red Robin = Worked 🙂
• Coin 2.0 Due out Q1 2016
  • Free 2.0 upgrade to Coin 1.0 customers that already have their cards. New customers that do not have their card are being automatically upgraded.
  • 2.0 comes with NFC. With specific cards you will be to “Tap to Pay”.  The app will let you know which cards will work.
  • Ability to nickname cards that will appear in the paper screen.
  • Improved electronic strip.
  • Over-the-air updates. This will help to keep Coin future-proof.
  • Faster display.
  • Thinner by 8%

For more information please visit the Coin blog here.

 

 

Running Total

Worked = 10 🙂     Failed = 6 🙁

 

 

Final Thoughts

Coin has been fun to use and has stirred up curiosity with merchants but it feels like a hit and miss.  I am always skeptical if it will work. Still, I think it’s a great work in progress.  The two biggest problems for Coin is that they are dependent on merchants updating their card readers and that they need to have a larger screen on Coin card which shows the full credit card number to enable merchants to punch in the number when their card readers can’t read Coin.  Yes, you can go into your Coin app and show them an image of your card with it’s account number but if your going to do that you might as well reach for your credit card instead of Coin.

 

 

If you’re also using Coin or something similar please let me know how it’s working for you in the comments below.