Coin is a credit card sized bluetooth low energy device that stores multiple existing credit, debit and gift cards. Think of Coin as digital wallet for your cards. Sadly, many are punting this product because it poses additional security risks. But it doesn’t pose any more security risks than the traditional cards the Coin is storing. It actually alleviates them. Let’s break down how.

We already know that the Coin is tethered to your smartphone. We also know that when it’s out of range of your smartphone it auto-locks the card-switching functionality, and if it’s out of range for too long, the Coin auto-deactivates itself completely.

So if someone were to steal both your smartphone and your Coin, then what? Coin’s FAQ is helpful in this case as the auto-lock and auto-deactivate features wouldn’t really help if your smartphone is compromised:

… If someone is able to get past the lock screen on your phone (or you don’t have it enabled), they will not be able to access card details stored on the phone, change settings, nor sync cards to your Coin via the Coin mobile app without signing in with your Coin account.

The chances of a common thief actually going through all the trouble of hacking your phone’s lock-screen and then your Coin account are very low. Even if they did, you still have the option of canceling all the cards stored on the Coin.

Clearly, Coin adds extra layers of security to the traditional card-swiping experience. Since Coin is tethered to your smartphone, a thief would have to do a lot more than just steal the card and swipe it.

But what about store clerks who ask for ID verification? Doesn’t Coin upend their ability to thwart thieves? Major retailers typically don’t ask to see a form of ID unless you’re buying age-restricted products or big-ticket items like cars or appliances as they often require credit checks. But that still leaves online transactions which never require any ID verification outside of the information found on the card itself. In my 15 years of owning a debit card, I can count on one hand how many times I’ve needed to present ID with the use of a debit card. This method is so poorly enforced it likely won’t matter anyway.

Using Coin doesn’t require anyone to stop using traditional cards. I’d still suggest putting them in a safe place, but you are free to carry them along with your Coin nonetheless. Doing so defeats some of the purpose of the Coin.

Conclusion

At the very least, Coin is no more or less insecure than traditional cards. This notion that Coin is somehow worse than traditional cards is quite silly and ill-conceived. If you’re truly concerned about security even though Coin is more secure, then don’t buy a Coin. It’s really that simple.