Plastc is a new electronic payment device, which wants to
make your life easier. Plastc stores all your credit cards, loyalty and gift
cards on the one card, but is the size and shape of a normal credit card,
fitting easily into your wallet. It pairs with an app on your phone, on which
you can store an unlimited amount of cards, whereas the actual electronic
device only stores 20 cards at any one time. You can toggle between your cards
through a touch screen to decide which one to pay with and then swipe or use
your PIN as normal when paying.
Impressively, Plastc plans to launch with seven partner banks, including
American Express, Citi and Chase, and supports Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
No one will deny that that is a lot of information stored on
one card, the first question that comes to mind is, “Is that secure?” but the
Plastc device has a PIN lock and must be synced to a smartphone at all times so
if you (perhaps unknowingly) become separated from your card, you will receive
proximity alerts to you phone. After a certain period of time away from your
card, it automatically deletes all data on the card. The app will also and
impressively have facial recognition technology to verify identity when dealing
with sensitive data.
This is a truly revolutionary product. Storing all cards in
one would solve many a problem of today’s lifestyle. But is this all too good
to be true? It may very well be. There is currently no functioning prototype
for Plastc, and it is planned for release in less than a years time. A similar
card, Coin, launched in 2013 and was due to be shipped last year, however was
pushed back to 2014 for reasons not given, however Coin has still at least been
beta tested.
The security protection does seem extremely convincing,
however as a fraud and risk specialist, I see a couple of flaws here. I know
how easy it is to retrieve PIN details, and one PIN on the card itself is
perhaps not safe enough. Most worryingly, perhaps, is that apps can be hacked.
This is nothing new, there have been many incidents of computer hacking and the
release of sensitive information in recent years and this app could be the
perfect target for cyber criminals. Another possible problem is that if your
battery on your phone dies then one assumes the card doesn’t work anymore.
Plastc wants to become the only card you need when you are out, but if the card
only works when it is synced to your phone and the phone is technically “dead”,
then the only form of payment you have for the night is gone.
Facial recognition seems very “Minority Report” too, but I
wonder, if it is so easy to implement, why is this futuristic type of security
not available everywhere now? If, and when, Plastc is released in 2015, will
this technology actually be on the app or will it be simply too difficult to
implement?
Another possibly fatal flaw is that Plastc is only supposed
to have a 30-day battery life. If you simply forget to charge it or lose Plastc,
you could find yourself stuck with no way to get home for the night.
I don’t think Plastc will fully replace a normal credit
card. As we can see there are many possible flaws that can occur with Plastc.
People always prepare for the worst-case scenario and will probably always
carry a normal credit card as well as Plastc, thereby not fully solving the
problem of no cards needed. I think mobile payment technology, especially Apple
Pay, will take off much quicker than Plastc as people usually always have their
phones with them, making Plastc redundant.
Until something like this is fully trustworthy, I do not
think I want to be the one to road test is and find myself stuck. If it works,
I think it is fantastic. Let’s keep an eye out for when Summer 2015 comes
around, we will either results or the stalling of a too-good-to-be-true idea.
