In my last post I mentioned about the new COIN 2.0 and my first week with COIN. I have had it about 3 weeks now and there are some things that still amaze me and have me thinking about the device from a more nefarious point of view.
First, a quick recap about COIN. COIN is an electronic device that looks like a credit card. Not only does it look like a credit card it acts like one too. You can store 8 of your credit, debit and loyalty cards in COIN. You pick the one you want to use and the either swipe or tap just like your regular credit card. And there are other security features, etc. You can refer to my previous post to get more details.
Ok, so the last 2 weeks since my last post have been interesting. So far I have only found 2 places where it would not work. The first one is Lowes when I getting some electrical supplies. It was at the regular checkout not the self checkout.
The card readers are different at the regular checkout and the self checkout so I will give the self checkout a try next time.
The other place it did not work was Popeyes. The Popeyes I tried it at has an older small credit card machine that everyone uses, it is not built in to the terminal. So it might just be the terminal is old, not sure.
Here is the other amazing thing, not one person has questioned it. That really surprises me and concerns me at the same time. I have even changed cards in front of a couple of them by pressing the COIN button and still, nothing.
So either COIN managed to get every employee and at every location where credit cards are taken trained on what COIN is or we have become way too complacent with credit cards. I am leaning toward the latter which would also explain how credit card fraudsters can duplicate a card and go use it at a store to buy products and never even get questioned.
This got me thinking, what if a credit card fraudster put in 8 stolen credit cards into COIN? Then COIN could be used to run up charges on 8 different cards. Programming COIN is simple and they even provide you with a swipe reader to scan in a card.
COIN has built in some safety features when entering a new card, things like your zip code, etc. But, if the fraudster has your card information they probably have that information as well.
Let me just add though that COIN does do a good job at keeping your personal credit card information secure. If your card is further away than bluetooth range from your phone, you must use your secret tap code to unlock it. And it does wipe the information if you enter the code incorrectly too many times. I have experienced that my self so I know it works.
I will post from time to time on my experiences with COIN.