Coin - Next Great Innovation or Security Blunder?

What if you had one card in place of several credit and debit cards? If this were Lord of the Rings, the phrase comes to mind “one card to rule them all”.

Introduce yourself to Coin. The only card you need to cary.

What is Coin?

Coin is an electronic card, the same size as a standard credit card, which will digitally contain all your credit cards information. Gone are the days of needing to cary multiple credit and debit cards - you now only need to carry one card - Coin.

As a merchant, should I accept Coin?

In short - at this stage in the game I wouldn’t recommend it. Check out what Damon Darlin has to say in his NY Times piece:

Consider this as well: When you buy it, you are agreeing to terms of service that give you no protection. Should something go wrong — name your worst fear: the device broadcasts your credit card numbers, it is hacked, the site containing your encrypted numbers is hacked, the numbers are improperly encrypted, merchants refuse it — it’s not Coin’s problem. The company says it is confident it will work as promised.

Conclusion

The invention of Coin is exciting, introducing a slightly more convenient way to pay. But as with all payments, when people’s hard-earned money is at stake, we must be vigilant about security.