Smart Credit Cards May Slow Adoption Of Mobile Payments

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What Coin And Google Wallet Card Mean For The Rest Of The Payments Industry (Washington Post)
Last week, a payments startup called Coin surfaced and began taking orders for its new payments product — a slim, all-in-one credit card. Users can store all their credit, debit, and gift card info on the Coin card, and do away with the need to carry around multiple cards.

coin smart card

This week, Google has launched a card that consumers can link to their Google Wallet account and balance and use in retail outlets.

While Google's smart card is limited in its capabilities, it is free for Google Wallet account holders. Coin, on the other hand, costs $50 currently and will cost $100 down the line.

From a consumer standpoint, the interest is there. Coin hit its crowdfunding goal in 40 minutes and had to open up more pre-order spots. This, despite Coin garnering heavy criticism from the tech world and concern from anti-fraud professionals.

It's obvious that consumer familiarity with cards as a payments system is what's driving demand for these smart cards, not true consumer interest in adopting an innovative mobile-based payments method. Technologically, these smart cards seem like a bit of a step backwards. For example, Coin's companion phone app mainly serves to alert users if they have forgotten their Coin card somewhere. Consumers adoption of new payments technologies like NFC and payments apps may suffer if these cards become popular. Read >

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