AppleInsider Staff
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 — Â 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 — Â 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.
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47 Comments
Swiping a credit card%u2026. How quaint! Meanwhile, the rest of the western world has moved to chip and pin%u2026.
[quote name="AppleInsider" url="/t/182691/plastc-unveils-new-ios-connected-payment-card-with-e-ink-touchscreen#post_2614087"] Plastc Card is available for pre-order from plastc.com for $155, with shipping slated to begin next summer.[/quote] Too late.
So I spend $155 to have another piece of plastic that I must recharge from time to time? Can it hold store reward/loyalty cards? Can I tap it on the terminal to speed up the process?
This and Coin are already DOA.
So for those who didn't bother to read... - 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.