Tired of digging through the collection of credit, debit and loyalty cards in your wallet? Well, if you are, then you're the sort of person who might like the Plastc Card. It's a new electronic card-format device, that can store the information for up to 20 other cards on it at once. You just select the card that you want to access via the e-ink screen, then use Plastc as if it were that card.
In order to get a conventional card "into" the Plastc Card, you start by swiping that card through an included reader that's attached to your iPhone or Android smartphone. The accompanying Plastc Wallet app records its info, so it can then be transferred onto the Plastc Card via Bluetooth. Although Plastc can store no more than 20 cards in its Flash memory at once, if you want to use one that's been scanned but not loaded, you can retrieve it from your phone's memory at any time. The Wallet app also lets you keep track of all transactions made using the system.
The Plastc Card has a rewritable magnetic strip, that lets it be swiped as the card that it's representing. Its e-ink screen ? the same one that's used for viewing and selecting the cards stored in its memory ? also displays bar codes where applicable, along with user photos and signatures for credit cards. Additionally, the Card features NFC/RFID functionality, plus an upcoming firmware update will allow it to be used in Chip and PIN machines.
Its integrated battery should be good for about 30 days of use, and can be recharged via an included wireless charging mat. A built-in light sensor keeps Plastc powered down when it's tucked away in your wallet.
Should you leave the Card behind at a store, an alert will sound on your phone, via the app. Additionally, once the paired phone has been out of Bluetooth range for a predetermined amount of time, the Card will automatically wipe its own memory ? presumably making it useless to anyone else. Once the phone is back in range, Plastc will re-sync the erased card data from the app.
Should it be your phone that gets lost, the Wallet app is PIN- and facial recognition-protected.
The Plastc Card is available now for preorder, priced at US$155. That's a one-time expense, as there are no monthly fees. Shipping is expected to begin next summer (Northern Hemisphere). In the meantime, you can get more of a sense of how it works, in the video below.
Potential buyers might also want to check out the very similar Coin card, which is also in the preorder phase. It lacks Plastc's wide e-ink screen and it can only store eight cards at once, but it's also $50 cheaper.
dready
11-03-2014 10:33 AM
This looks really awesome, but they haven't explained how they will get chip & pin to work. Without that, it will be useless in Canada. I'd love to pre-order, but until they figure out and explain chip & pin feature, I'm out.
srockhard
11-03-2014 10:36 AM
Not this again :( ...DO NOT PRE-ORDER THESE
2MuchMark
11-03-2014 11:11 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by srockhard
(Post 20276330)
Not this again :( ...DO NOT PRE-ORDER THESE
This looks cool. Besides the $155 price, is there another reason not to pre-order? Just curious.
Sly
11-03-2014 11:17 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by **********
(Post 20276385)
This looks cool. Besides the $155 price, is there another reason not to pre-order? Just curious.
The pre-order of Only Coin was an absolute disaster. This one looks much better than Only Coin, but based on my experience with OC, I will not touch this with a 10 foot pole. It might not be logical, but I am completely turned off by pre-ordering from startups.
This looks really awesome, but they haven't explained how they will get chip & pin to work. Without that, it will be useless in Canada. I'd love to pre-order, but until they figure out and explain chip & pin feature, I'm out.
Exactly what I was thinking...
JFK
11-03-2014 02:55 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by PAR
(Post 20276469)
Exactly what I was thinking...
Just wait till someone hacks it, there goes all your 20 cards :2 cents: Cash is KING :2 cents:
wonder if the data would be in the nice secure icloud
2MuchMark
11-03-2014 03:41 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sly
(Post 20276390)
The pre-order of Only Coin was an absolute disaster. This one looks much better than Only Coin, but based on my experience with OC, I will not touch this with a 10 foot pole. It might not be logical, but I am completely turned off by pre-ordering from startups.
Gotcha - I thought it was something else. Of course though, the start-up needs the cash which is why they sell the pre orders, and at $155 a pop. I don't think this way of providing cards will work. What they should do instead is work out some kind of deal whereby they get a % of every sale first, then make the cards available "only to a select few" (fake of course) to generate hunger and waiting lines to get the card, then release it to everyone. I might use a card like that but wouldn't pay $155 just to save space in my wallet.
Rochard
11-03-2014 04:44 PM
Why would someone pre order something that hasn't been built yet?
ErectMedia
11-03-2014 04:55 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by **********
(Post 20276385)
Besides the $155 price, is there another reason not to pre-order? Just curious.
You don't have iPhone 6 or 6+ yet. Get your priorities straight. :1orglaugh
MiamiBoyz
11-03-2014 05:21 PM
If you can't use it to by cocaine I am really not interested...thank you.
