Coin Announces Official Shutdown of All Product Services Coming February 28

[69Mustang]

Being able to pay with the magnetic card swipe would be useful except when you try to pay with your Galaxy using a card that has a chip it requires that you pull out the physical card and insert the chip in the machine anyways. Bit useless now that we are moving to the chipped card standard.

That's not how Samsung Pay works. It has both NFC and MST capability. It's not necessary to physically pull out a chipped card. If the terminal accepts NFC you can use Samsung Pay. If the terminal only accepts magnetic swipes, you can use Samsung Pay.

 

[kildraik]

I did the crowdfunding deal for two cards. When I eventually got them, I used it once and deemed it completely useless, so in the bin it went. It was a good idea, but didn't work well in the real world.

 

[devsfan1830]

Their company is garbage. Took money and delayed an entire year before shipping out a turd product, only to update to V2 a few months later. Luckily those who had V1 were able to upgrade, not sure if it was a deep discount or for free, but they did something at least.

Agreed. I preordered from the start and eventually got my money back after constant delays and, if memory serves, they had the balls to demand additional money for the final V1 device when it eventually shipped. The "preorder" we put down would have, after all their delays, only entitled us to a beta device. The final device would require an upgrade fee of sorts. I bailed immediately when they pulled that crap. I may be mis-remembering details but all know is they have always been sketchy as hell. Releasing a massively delayed, poorly working product that was pretty much outdated the second we switched to chip cards and contactless payments.

Edit: Yep I was more or less right, found an original article from back in the day: https://www.cnet.com/news/coin-customers-left-fuming-after-getting-shut-out-of-beta-program/

 

[swordfish5736]

Glad I got my refund awhile back before they ever shipped them.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I bought my 6+ thinking I'd immediately be using Apple Pay everywhere.

Its taken awhile, but at this point, I'd say approximately half of my transactions are done with Apple Pay.

If the states around me (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts) would just start allowing for digital drivers licenses, I could probably ditch cards entirely. Oh well - having a fully autonomous car will probably render my driver's license mostly unnecessary before a digital alternative is available...

 

[EgbertAttrick]

Someone said that using the chip is just as quick and easy as using Apple Pay. I could not disagree more. The chip takes considerably longer. Apple Pay takes maybe a second or less, whereas chip is usually around an awkward 30 seconds.

As far as security is concerned, if I were a merchant, I would much prefer customers pay with Apple Pay over even a chip card. With Apple Pay, most card issuers require that you validate your identity before it is set up. And it's way less likely (and more difficult) for someone to be able to use a stolen phone than it is a stolen card.

That being said, stolen physical cards probably account for 0.00000000001% of fraudulent credit card use, anyhow.

 

[BruiserB]

I had one and used it until Apple Pay came along.

Now really I have stopped using Apple Pay just because many of my cards that offer rewards are not supported by it and its just easier to pull the credit card out and swipe it.

Every one of my rewards cards is supported.

Amex Blue Everyday for Groceries (3%)
Costco Visa for Gas (4%), Travel and Restaurants (3%)
Fidelity Rewards for Everything Else (2%)
Discover for quarterly revolving categories (5%)

All with no annual fees.

Apple Pay is also supported by Capital One, Chase and Barclaycard cards....which are the other major rewards providers, though several of them have annual fees.

Wondering which reward cards you're using that aren't supported?

The problem is more the acceptance of ApplePay at stores than the lack of support for cards.

 

[_mdavenport]

The fact that Coin and Samsung Pay can clone the magnetic stripe data from your credit card is reason enough not to use it.

This is a very good point.

 

[Zoboomafoo]

So Fitbit bought a payment service just to shut it down?... what advantage did they gain from purchasing Coin?

IP, technology, developers, etc. This is not a new phenomenon.

 

[r8ders2k]

Even though I still carry my Coin 2.0 card, for me, it only worked in about 2-3 places that I usually went to eat. Which is surprising since I live in Silicon Valley. A major downfall IMHO. It was a great idea, but one that never reached its full potential.

 

[masotime]

I think the better solution is for payment terminals to be upgraded. Here in Canada, pretty much anywhere that I can pay with chip-and-pin, I can pay with "a tap", which means Apple Pay is supported. It's fast, efficient and secure. No need for Apple to invest into supporting outdated hardware.

Americans have no idea how outdated their payment infrastructure is compared to many other countries, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore just to name a few....

 

[tmiw]

Being able to pay with the magnetic card swipe would be useful except when you try to pay with your Galaxy using a card that has a chip it requires that you pull out the physical card and insert the chip in the machine anyways. Bit useless now that we are moving to the chipped card standard.

Actually, you can use Samsung Pay's MST functionality even with chip-enabled terminals. The virtual card looks like a card without a chip to those.

Businesses in the U.S. need to upgrade their POS terminals so they can accept chip cards anyway; so it boggles my mind why some businesses will do that upgrade and then purposely turn off functionality in the new POS equipment that is customer-friendly.

I think Apple seriously misread the US market for a few reasons:

1. Major retailers have a huge interest in controlling every part of the shopping process. Apple Pay and similar eliminate some of that control. As you can imagine, they are none too happy about supporting those.
2. The US is a chip and signature market, not chip and PIN. That means that most smaller businesses make their terminals inaccessible to customers, and why wouldn't they? A wired terminal in the back of the restaurant is far less expensive than having to buy three or four wireless terminals, for example.
3. Merchants also kinda hate taking cards in general and paying processing fees. Yes, Apple Pay costs them the same as a regular card, but anything that could make people use cards more often isn't a good thing. That's not even getting into the issues with debit routing and how Apple Pay tends to be run as credit (costing merchants more than it otherwise would).

That all said, Apple adopting MST would probably have only helped with 1 and 3. There'd still be the huge issue with #2, which I don't see being resolved unless paying with a phone or watch becomes way more popular than it currently is.
[doublepost=1485977703][/doublepost]Speaking of Apple Pay, I really wish Apple broke down their numbers more than they currently do. "500% growth" is useless without knowing where that growth occurred. If I were to take a guess, though, I'd say that most of that growth happened with websites and apps and not so much with NFC.

 

[lunarworks]

The obtuse parroting in this thread is hilarious. From a customer standpoint, any mobile solution that allows me to use what's in my pocket regardless of whether or not a terminal has been updated is a considerable win. Apple/Android Pay usage is growing but it is still decidedly a small portion of payments; especially in the US. Apple Pay has just reached 35% retailer penetration here. That means 65%, or the overwhelming majority, still don't accept it. If Apple Pay had MST as well as NFC, it's penetration would be 100%. It would also counter all the half-assed alternatives retailers keeping cooking up to counter it because there's no way in hell any retailer is going to block MST. It's a win/win for Apple and the customer.

NFC is the future, no doubt. Last I checked, the future ain't here yet.

In the USA.

As I said, in Canada, and plenty of other countries, you would typically have a 100% decline rate using MST to pay. If your card has a chip, the magstripe will be rejected. (They mainly keep it there for use outside Canada.) Our banks rolled out chip payment tech ages ago, and have been pushing NFC for a few years now. It's a completely redundant technology in our case. Adding that into a phone is just one more thing that has to be securely locked down, and it's going to be redundant in the US in a few years too, so it's not worth it.

 

[Little Endian]

Coin while far from perfect but does serve a purpose. I own one and actually still use it several times a week. My best use for it is storing gift cards and ATM usage. I like being able to access to a dozen plus gift cards at anytime without having to physically Cary them around. I also like the fact that in some ways it is far more secure than traditional cards. If your coin got lost or stolen it is pretty much useless since it can lock itself down and wipe itself clean. I would rather lose my coin than any actual credit, debit or gift card.

 

[tmiw]

In the USA.

As I said, in Canada, and plenty of other countries, you would typically have a 100% decline rate using MST to pay. If your card has a chip, the magstripe will be rejected. (They mainly keep it there for use outside Canada.) Our banks rolled out chip payment tech ages ago, and have been pushing NFC for a few years now. It's a completely redundant technology in our case. Adding that into a phone is just one more thing that has to be securely locked down, and it's going to be redundant in the US in a few years too, so it's not worth it.

Frankly, I see MST being useful in the US (and for foreign visitors to this country) for quite a while after everyone finally starts accepting the chip considering how many places aren't bothering to enable NFC. That is, if everyone even bothers to start accepting the chip; fraud is already rapidly moving away from card cloning and I can see the liability shift no longer providing any motivation for a significant minority of merchants to upgrade as a result.

 

[TallManNY]

Neat idea. I crowdfunded, waited for them to ship, got it, tried to use it. But I couldn't get it to work consistently and it would often get rejected when I tried to use it at bars and restaurants. The tech just didn't work in real life. Still, I would LOVE to combine the three credit cards I have to carry into one card. And I'm sure most people carry more than three credit cards.
[doublepost=1485978757][/doublepost]

I bought my 6+ thinking I'd immediately be using Apple Pay everywhere.

Its taken awhile, but at this point, I'd say approximately half of my transactions are done with Apple Pay.

If the states around me (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts) would just start allowing for digital drivers licenses, I could probably ditch cards entirely. Oh well - having a fully autonomous car will probably render my driver's license mostly unnecessary before a digital alternative is available...

You are probably right about the license. Tesla will sell you a car today that they say will be autonomous eventually with a software update. Now they might be wrong, but the fact that they are saying this and making sales on that basis means they probably are very confident that the software will be figured out.

 

[ZipZap]

Their company is garbage. Took money and delayed an entire year before shipping out a turd product, only to update to V2 a few months later. Luckily those who had V1 were able to upgrade, not sure if it was a deep discount or for free, but they did something at least.

Indeed. I got a refund. It was 2 years before then shipped anything. They gave the product to Amazon before they had fulfilled all the backers.

I am just sorry they made any money on an acquisition. Just a terribly flawed product and a lot of angry customers.

 

[69Mustang]

In the USA.

As I said, in Canada, and plenty of other countries, you would typically have a 100% decline rate using MST to pay. If your card has a chip, the magstripe will be rejected. (They mainly keep it there for use outside Canada.) Our banks rolled out chip payment tech ages ago, and have been pushing NFC for a few years now. It's a completely redundant technology in our case. Adding that into a phone is just one more thing that has to be securely locked down, and it's going to be redundant in the US in a few years too, so it's not worth it.

So what if it will be rejected? Just use the NFC. No one is advocating MST instead of NFC. We're advocating MST and NFC, like Samsung Pay. As I said in my previous post, if Apple Pay had MST and NFC it would effectively have 100% coverage and be more ubiquitous. Good for customers. Good for Apple.

 

[Stella]

That was a waste of money. No wonder Fitbit are beginning to struggle.

Pissing $$ on bad acquisitions and a one product pony show!

 

[dontwalkhand]

I bought my 6+ thinking I'd immediately be using Apple Pay everywhere.

Its taken awhile, but at this point, I'd say approximately half of my transactions are done with Apple Pay.

If the states around me (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts) would just start allowing for digital drivers licenses, I could probably ditch cards entirely. Oh well - having a fully autonomous car will probably render my driver's license mostly unnecessary before a digital alternative is available...

Iowa seems to be working on that digital ID. I'm sure you'll still need one for an autonomous car.
[doublepost=1485983199][/doublepost]

Americans have no idea how outdated their payment infrastructure is compared to many other countries, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore just to name a few....

We have chip cards. And I'm an American. I don't understand what you are talking about. I go into Walmart, I stick the chip in type in a PIN, remove card and go.

I don't see it being different in Europe or Asia. Unless you're talking about PayPass, which then yes we are behind but I seem to be able to use it (&Apple Pay) about 80% daily usage.

It depends where you live. Of course New York vs Montana you'll see a difference in tech as a whole.
[doublepost=1485983295][/doublepost]

In the USA.

As I said, in Canada, and plenty of other countries, you would typically have a 100% decline rate using MST to pay. If your card has a chip, the magstripe will be rejected. (They mainly keep it there for use outside Canada.) Our banks rolled out chip payment tech ages ago, and have been pushing NFC for a few years now. It's a completely redundant technology in our case. Adding that into a phone is just one more thing that has to be securely locked down, and it's going to be redundant in the US in a few years too, so it's not worth it.

Chipotle still swipes cards in Canada
Parking meters are still swipe in Canada.

In the US, most places are chip enabled unless it is a restaurant- in which case it's mostly swipe.

I use my chip about 80-90% of my day which I say is pretty good. I use Apple Pay about 80% of terminals out there.

Restaurants are still archaic as hell. Some restaurants have tableside tablets which are still swipe only, and a few mom and pop restaurants bring the card reader to your table like Europe/Canada., in which case, its chip.

Gas pumps, I see new ones pop up left and right with chip readers.

I see no problem here.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

It was still around? I tossed mine in the trash months ago, wasn't worth the hassle.

 

[code-m]

FitBit Pay, coming to a store near you.

 

[Mac 128]

So Fitbit bought a payment service just to shut it down?... what advantage did they gain from purchasing Coin?

Seriously? You can't think of a single reason? One word:

BitPay

 

[masotime]

We have chip cards. And I'm an American. I don't understand what you are talking about. I go into Walmart, I stick the chip in type in a PIN, remove card and go.

I don't see it being different in Europe or Asia. Unless you're talking about PayPass, which then yes we are behind but I seem to be able to use it (&Apple Pay) about 80% daily usage

Singapore has had contactless payments since 4 years ago... America has just recently started switching over the chip, which is already pretty out-of-date. Many merchants are just ignoring chip because of how slow it is, and it is slow, that is why the rest of the world is quickly transitioning again to contactless payments.

It's a good thing that Apple Pay is pushing the envelope in NFC payments, but seriously, you guys are waaaaaaaaaaayyyy behind. Hong Kong is even more advanced with their Octopus Card, which has pretty much become a universal form of currency exchange as opposed to physical currency.

The cards are used by 95% of the population of Hong Kong aged 16 to 65, generating over 12 million daily transactions worth a total over HK$130 million.

 

[xero9]

That is if they ever ship the product (delayed in Q2 2017).

Oh wow, I remember reading about this in 2014 I think and was supposed to ship summer 2015? And not to mention they claim an update to allow EMV payments in the future, but who knows how long with will take..

So glad I didn't jump on the Plastc train!