garyschmitt

I've just noticed this iCache device which stores many credit cards electronically, and then puts the track data on a dynamic magnetic stripe on an as-needed basis. It uses a fingerprint scan to authenticate. Seems like a must-have for travelers who don't like fat wallets.

The question is, must I download my credit cards? Can the device also record the track data from cards of banks that are not participating?

Anyone seen these on the market yet?

angatol

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arf04

Looks like a great concept, but the device looks awfully large. It would be too bulky for me.

garyschmitt

The iCache seems to be about 1/4th the thickness and 2/3rds the width of my fully-stuffed low-tech wallet, and I suspect it can hold hundreds of times more plastic cards.

I could see how people who carry a money clip and one card might resist it.. it's bigger than a money clip. I would probably want to glue a money clip onto it for cash.

The other thing is, I don't think you would have to carry the device wherever you go. I would hope to be able to leave the device in the hotel at times, and pull out the card I need before leaving.

Would be cool if future models were integrated into a smartphone. It would only thicken the phone by enough to slide a card in, since most of the electronics are redundant.

slawecki

hundreds of cards????? i see the ladies at the grocery checkout counter with a lot of cards(no money in any of the accounts). what do people need with hundreds of cards? i carry maybe 10, probably less.

also love the promo site for icache. so slick, so cool. all those pretty people just looking to get into my money. they probably spend a couple million bucks to get that site designed and picutred up, and they don't have a product on the market.

garyschmitt

Even 10 cards is a lot of plastic to be carrying around. My wallet holds around 20 and is 4 times the width of the icache.

Although you only need 2-3 bank cards, but once you add in grocery discount cards, gym memberships, casino players club cards (you need around 10 of these to cover the strip), hotel room keys.. it adds up.

To answer the question, having the electronic capacity to hold hundreds of cards doesn't mean you would need to use all that space. It just means you can well exceed the limit of your low-tech wallet without taking too much pocket space.

It's good to have that capacity though, because then you can accommodate future protections, such as virtual bank numbers. At the moment virtual credit card numbers only work online. But once you can swipe a one-time-use number, you're protected from skimming to a large extent because the number skimmed becomes unusable (unless the legit transaction is somehow blocked). If you want 10 disposable numbers for each of your ten cards, then 100 card numbers becomes practical.

CPRich

That may be the challenge to this device. Payment via smartphone is probably the future, giving this a short period of a few years to be viable.

While I probably do have sevreal dozen cards, I only carry 8 or so in my wallet. And I still need my wallet for cash, so the incremental space for 8 cards is much smaller than this device.

docbert

Wow.. another reason not to let your credit cards out of your sight. Skimming credit cards was never all that difficult, but this appears to make it trivial for someone that can get their hands on your cards for a few seconds to make a copy...

As far as using it yourself, I'm not sure I see the point. Credit cards will be an issue any time someone wants to see the card/signature/etc. Loyalty cards it's almost certainly easier just to use a phone number. Membership cards (eg, Airline Lounges) are going to have the same problem as credit cards as it's not an original card. Hotel/etc cards when was the last time you had one swiped for any purpose?

Other than a self-swipe card at the supermarket for low value purchases where you don't need to sign I can't see a single place this would be useful...

angatol

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ScottC

Another issue - what if the electronic processing is down and they want to make an imprint?

To me, this looks like a product in search of a solution.

MAN Pax

Chip + PIN?

Not a chance of this working in Europe.

arf04

That I could get excited about.

Jimmie76

That was my first thought, how would they deal with that especially when Chip 'n' Pin reaches the USA.

If I was presented with that I'd have to say "No" as there would be no way to verify the signature on the actual card, or know if it was actually their card. Also quite often I want to see another credit/debit card with the same signature as a double check, which they are probably not going to have with this thing. I don't know that this isn't just a very good way to introduce card skimming to the masses. I could have one of these in my showroom and when someone hands me their card I could just stick it in this device whilst pretending to do something with the till and then I'd have their cloned card to use.

cordelli

The merchant accounts for in person card usage pretty much only protect the merchant if they see the card and signature. I don't see how Mastercard and Visa and the others would go along with this in a case of fraud.

The first reviews of it were back in 2007

http://consumerist.com/2007/08/icach...dit-cards.html

so it's not really gotten much traction yet.

SRQ Guy

I suspect this product will be DOA due in no small part to suspicious vendors. If I were a retail vendor there's no way I accept a swipe from a card like this.