There are a number of startups seeking to make our financial lives better, whether it be Simple helping users set budgets and goals or BillGuard to make them aware of fraudulent charges that show up on their credit cards. Then there’s Coin, which wants to create a sort of “one card to rule them all” solution to the problem of sifting through all our credit and debit cards.
The early response to Coin has been pretty overwhelming, with the company reaching its initial pre-order goal shortly after it went online. It’s kept pre-orders open since then, and you can still order a Coin for $50 plus $5 shipping on the company’s website.
We got an early look at one of the electronic card’s prototypes and spoke with founder Kanishk Parashar, who showed us how Coin works. The card has a screen to see which card you’re using, a button to switch between cards, a dynamic stripe to actually make purchases, and a Bluetooth low energy chip to sync with your mobile phone.
The whole company’s premise is to simplify and improve people’s lives, and they will begin shipping hopefully this summer.