Coin 2.0 Review

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This will be a continuous review through the end of... well the end of the life of the Coin.  

Coin 2.0 In Its Full Retail PackagingCoin is a e-card used for payments, and to store and retrieve payment information.  I first saw and reported on these devices a few years ago at the Consumer Electronics Show (now called CES) and it was really exciting technology that took quite a bit longer to realize than originally anticipated.

Think of it as a blank electronic credit or debit card that, if worked well, will clone your payment cards and provide a bit of security, convenience and rewards.  It costs about $99 right now ( December 16, 2015 ), and I think makes a great gift for anyone that uses plastic.

Here is Coin's marketing video:

More after the break.

Why would someone want a Coin 2.0 Smart Payment Device?

For me, the biggest selling point is about convenience, and reducing the bulge of my EDC (every day carry).  A thick wallet in the back of your pants, or in your front pocket can actually be detrimental to one's health and well being.  It could mess up your appearance, ruin your clothes, and just become somewhat disorganized.

So in ideal situations, all one needs to bring while using the Coin is: 

  • Government issued ID / Driver's license.
  • COIN 2
  • One other credit card or Debit Card
  • Some cash

But really, the ultimate goal is that all you'd really need is a COIN or smart card device that can do it all.  If my Driver's License can have these features bulit-in, but protected, encrypted, etc that'd simply be awesome.  But lets face it, not likely to happen soon so...

What struck me when I watched someone else unboxing and setting it up the first time is the lack of great instructions.  Well let me tell you that you simply want to download the Coin App for iOS or Coin App for Android.  Setup was fairly easy after that: you just need to provide your info, billing address, social security number, etc which Coin checks against the information it has access to along with your credit cards.  Then you select what cards you want to add, and swipe it through the magnetic card reader to enter each one, or manually enter the numbers.  It will place a temporary $1-2 charge on the account and... that's pretty much it.

Also, I found you could use a Square Credit Card Reader to read the cards as well.

The advertised benefits on the box:

  • Convenience
  • Security
  • Rewards

As far as convenience, well that's true about 75% of the time so far.  I carry a backup card just in case, and frankly I do most of my shopping online so I don't use a card much except when eating out, buying gas, Costco/Sam's Club.  And I have filled up all 8 card slots so I'm down from 10 cards to 3 cards + Costco / Sam's Club.  My wallet is slimmer.  And in case you are wondering, the card is just about as slim as a credit card.

But remember, once I know the COIN won't work at the spot, I'll just prepare to use something else so this won't be an issue.  All fast food places work (they don't EMV terminals).  Where Apple Pay is accepted, well this will likely be as well if its through NFC enabled terminals.

What is convenient (for me) though is those darn rebate debit cards, and also membership cards with magetic strips, and magnetic gift cards.  Since I don't like carrying around cards with $5, $10 etc I can store them in COIN and remember to use them because I have them with me.

Inconvenience: I anticipate if the card is declined for whatever reason and I didn't have a backup card.  Or when the battery runs out, or the card gets damaged - that's $100 down the drain, and thats just part of the inconvenience.

Where does the COIN not work for me so far?   

  • EMV terminals (where I have EMV enabled card) that don't have NFC payment enabled or wireless EMV contactless tap to pay.
  • Hypothetical, but those merchants that take a physical imprint of your card for payment when terminals are down.
  • Also, certain ATM machines that suck your card in are problematic (according to COIN).  I use ATM machines that are swipe/in-n-out so I don't have this problem yet.
  • That's it!

Security:

Well I feel more secure in knowing that if I forget my card somewhere, the app will tell me where I left it.  Also, if someone picks it up they can't unlock and use the card somewhere.  But honestly, the cards I carry all have a zero to little liability if lost or used in an unauthorized manner.

It needs my phone to be on, unlocked via bluetooth to use COIN.  Or... I can tap a morse code like sequence to unlock the COIN.  I've tried, both - works just fine.

It is also more secure because it doesn't display all the numbers on the card, so at any given time someone cannot read the numbers unless they have a card reader somewhere (I suppose a good thief would now wouldn't they?) - but it does limit the amount of exposure.

What I don't feel secure is carrying so few cards when traveling long distances, so I'll be adding another card as a backup but it will be stashed in my EDC camera bag; with some cash just in case.  

Rewards:

OK, so there is one reward that I've redeemed so far and thats for using the COIN for lunch, and tweeting about it.  COIN sends you a $5 Amazon Gift card.  So far this is a monthly re-occuring thing.

I'd only have to redeem it 20 times for the COIN to pay for itself, or less than a year.

There is also one other reward I can redeem, and thats $5 for Peet's Coffee - one time offer.  So, not bad for the first month.

As of December 16, 2015:

Coin version 2.0.1
Firmware 0.6.23 (Over the air updates are promised - meaning through your smartphone via bluetooth)

Overall:

I think it makes a great gift this holiday season for independent contractors, business owners, travel hackers, and nerds who need to juggle plastic between business, personal expenses.  It solves a real problem, but for $100 - so it won't be for everyone, just those that juggle plastic for various reasons.

Please support my work, if you decide to get the Coin or are shopping on Amazon for anything, please use my link.

*** Disclaimer ***

I am not sponsored by COIN to write this review.  I bought this myself from Amazon.  I make a small commission on any purchase made through links on my site, and this review.  Thank you for your support and Happy Holidays!!