Plastc unveils new iOS-connected payment card with e-ink touchscreen
Silicon Valley startup Plastc on Tuesday unveiled a new, iOS-connected smart payment card with a number of innovative features -- including built-in, programmable NFC and RFID --?less than a month before Apple is expected to unleash Apple Pay, its own bid to eliminate the plastic in consumers' wallets.
The Plastc Card -- like previously-announced competitor Coin --?uses a reprogrammable magnetic strip to imitate consumers' existing credit and debit cards. Plastc goes a step further, however, adding NFC, RFID, and chip-and-PIN capabilities.
Users can load virtually any other card into Plastc via the companion Plastc Wallet app and a low-energy Bluetooth connection. In addition to payment cards, the Plastc team says the device can also imitate utility cards, such as RFID-based building access cards.
A built-in e-ink touchscreen, used to choose a card, can also display barcodes. That makes Plastc more useful for those who frequently take advantage of loyalty rewards programs that use small barcode-based cards.
The touchscreen plays another role as well, helping to enhance security by allowing users to lock Plastc with a pin. It can also be used to display the owner's signature and photo ID.
The added functionality does come at the cost of battery life, though the company tries to maximize it by using a light sensor to "turn off" the card while it sits in a wallet. Unlike competitors that last for up to one year, Plastc will need to be recharged approximately once per month using the built-in wireless charging system.
"From the beginning, we focused on making a simple and elegant transactional experience," Plastc co-founder Mark Stubbs said in a release. "We packed Plastc Card with the most advanced technology available and built-in future technology like Chip and PIN and NFC, so the user doesn't have to worry about future payment systems."
Plastc Card is available for pre-order from plastc.com for $155, with shipping slated to begin next summer.
The Plastc Card -- like previously-announced competitor Coin --?uses a reprogrammable magnetic strip to imitate consumers' existing credit and debit cards. Plastc goes a step further, however, adding NFC, RFID, and chip-and-PIN capabilities.
Users can load virtually any other card into Plastc via the companion Plastc Wallet app and a low-energy Bluetooth connection. In addition to payment cards, the Plastc team says the device can also imitate utility cards, such as RFID-based building access cards.
A built-in e-ink touchscreen, used to choose a card, can also display barcodes. That makes Plastc more useful for those who frequently take advantage of loyalty rewards programs that use small barcode-based cards.
The touchscreen plays another role as well, helping to enhance security by allowing users to lock Plastc with a pin. It can also be used to display the owner's signature and photo ID.
The added functionality does come at the cost of battery life, though the company tries to maximize it by using a light sensor to "turn off" the card while it sits in a wallet. Unlike competitors that last for up to one year, Plastc will need to be recharged approximately once per month using the built-in wireless charging system.
"From the beginning, we focused on making a simple and elegant transactional experience," Plastc co-founder Mark Stubbs said in a release. "We packed Plastc Card with the most advanced technology available and built-in future technology like Chip and PIN and NFC, so the user doesn't have to worry about future payment systems."
Plastc Card is available for pre-order from plastc.com for $155, with shipping slated to begin next summer.
Comments
Meanwhile, the rest of the western world has moved to chip and pin%u2026.
Too late.
- Yes, it's CHIP and PIN
- Yes it can do up to 20 cards on the card itself.
- Yes it can hold loyalty cards and Gift cards
- Yes the App can hold even more cards and you can load an unlimited number of cards.
. and
- yes, it's only 1 month, but rechargeable and could last in theory for years and years w/o replacement.. unlike other solutions.
This and Coin are already DOA.
Why? Coin's DOA because it lacks Chip and Pin..
This doesn't.. So.. explain why it's DOA? Apple Pay? Not so quick.. Apple Pay isn't a REQUIRED standard, so it won't be ubiquitous (everywhere).. CHIP and PIN will be in the US, and already is in other countries. Plus not many will support Apple Pay for loyalty cards and Gift Cards.. not for awhile anyway.
It's still less secure than Apple Pay.
Can it hold store reward/loyalty cards? Can I tap it on the terminal to speed up the process?
why can't you read the article? your questions are answered very plainly.
Sorry, you are 1 year to late. ApplePay is already part of vocabulary of people. ApplePay has already educated people that the security is the main issue.
Just a reminder, the issue of having physical Cards is not the weight or space to carry them. It is a security issue. This does not help. ApplePay will improve security when shopping in-person and when shopping online. I have had to replace my credit cards so far 5 times in the past 8 years. Annoying and time consuming. I believe ApplePay will encourage thieves to move on to those who still use plastic (sorry Plastc).
It's really for the gadget lover as well as someone that wants to reduce the number of cards in their wallet. Even with ?Pay I expect I'll still be carrying cards with me, just as I carried cash with me long after my primary payment solution were cards.
You're right, there will be a transition to Apple Pay and perhaps not all retailers will be on board (for whatever reasons).
Yes it support Loyalty card, but only if they have a mag strip, Most Loyalty card I have are all bar codes and need to be scanned by laser scanner of bar card image processing camera. I do not seea way this support bar code based Loyalty cards.
As other say this is DOA, they too late for the larger market. There maybe a smaller market who wishes to still have cards verses using their phone. This could be good back up to your phone as well, you could put all your card on something like this so you did not need to still carry all your cards around. Remember there will be merchants who will not have the NFC capabilty for some time and you will still need to swipe your card with them.
ApplePay will not eliminate your need to carry the physical card around for some period of time. You will still need the CC for the foreseeable future. The question, is it worth $155 so you so not need to carry 20+ cards around with you. Loyalty cards are not a reason since most places allow you to give them your phone number to get your loyalty points and discounts. Not hard to remember your phone number.
How long are these companies going to talk about these things, Coin still is accepting pre-order and this company is saying next year to get yours. I curious what is taking them so long. Coin went to the kickstart communities that tells me the VC saw the writing on the wall and would not back these guys. There is not really a good business model here which make real money.
Okay went and found this about coin
http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/17/technology/innovation/coin-startup-credit-card/
They do have some VC backing but they are still saying shipping next summer. Ohh the Credit Company have not signed off on it yet. Do you think they will with the deal with Apple.
Do not give them your money that is for sure.
Sorry, you are 1 year to late. ApplePay is already part of vocabulary of people. ApplePay has already educated people that the security is the main issue.
Which people?
I was very harsh on COIN and I still believe rightfully so.
This I think has value. Wireless charging for the battery - great! COIN makes you replace your card when the battery dies. COIN holds 8 cards, this holds 20. With a whole host of other features, this is what COIN should have been. But this should have hit market 2 years ago. The market for Plastc is probably the next 3 years. They'll need a new innovation or product to stay relevant beyond that. Also, COIN isn't even really out there yet, when will this hit the market?
Apple Pay will lead out of the gate and will more robustly transform the merchant market. All phone manufacturers that include support for an NFC wallet will benefit and soon (3 years) the phone will be the de facto payment method at the merchant register.
Okay miss that it have an e-ink display, but those do work work well with bar code scanner which are laser based, you need to use them with the optical scanning types. Not too many merchants are using them since they more expense than laser scanner.
I have set up google to tell me trending on certain keywords and ApplePay is among my list. This is trending higher and higher despite it not being available probably in Nov and only in US first. I think you will see the adoption curve to be quite high and at certain point vendor will have to have the NFC device to process ApplePay, and have to have ApplePay logo on their windows. I can tell you that I will be asking before ordering if they support ApplePay and will move on if they don't.
Again, ApplePay will not eliminate the need to carry a wallet. THIS IS ALL ABOUT SECURITY. Apple is not costing the vendors anything beside updating their cash registers to accept NFC so move up or die off.