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Coin gets NFC compatibility, slims down, and improves on the original

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Coin
Image used with permission by copyright holder
With Coin, the company behind it of the same name wants to replace your cards with one card. And with today’s announcement of Card 2.0, Coin the company is looking to enhance that vision with a slew of updates.

The biggest addition to Coin 2.0 is NFC compatibility, which allows for contactless payments at supported terminals. Also thrown in the mix is EMV compatibility, which lets you add any “chip and pin” cards that you have. Serving as a more secure alternative to magnetic strips, EMV supposedly allows for more secure payments through the use of cryptographic algorithms and user-specific PINs.

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Several retailers and credit card companies have implemented EMV in light of recent breaches, including the well known targeting of Target and Home Depot, so it’s no surprise that Coin 2.0 implements that technology.

Further enhancements include an 8 percent thinner card, an improved electronic stripe, and a display that shows information at twice the speed of the original Coin’s display. Finally, you can now nickname your cards in the Coin app in order to better differentiate between them, a particularly useful feature if you’re one who carries multiple credit and debit cards, along with loyalty cards.

We went hands-on with the beta version of the original Coin last December, and came away a bit unimpressed. Even though the hardware was solid and the Coin app worked mostly as advertised, using the Coin didn’t always result in a successful transaction, an issue that can cause expanding difficulties depending on the situation. In addition, with Apple Pay gaining prominence and Android Pay just around the corner, there may prove to be more elegant solutions available.

But if you remain interested, there are three ways to get Coin 2.0, the first of which involving pre-ordering the card starting today for $117.50. If you already own the original Coin, you will receive a free upgrade to Coin 2.0. And if you’re still waiting for your Coin, the company will upgrade you to Coin 2.0 for free.

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