Op-Ed: This early backer appreciates Coin's mea culpa and change of heart
Late last week, Coin announced that its “credit card of the future” wouldn’t be delivered to early backers this summer, as promised. Instead, the company introduced Coin Beta, and told backers they would have to pay extra for the final product, now scheduled to launch in 2015.
Naturally, this didn’t sit well with many of the folks who helped fund Coin’s startup costs.
On Saturday, the company reversed course and said it was running a nationwide Coin Beta at no cost to backers, and increased the number of Coin Beta devices by 50 percent to 15,000. Early backers will receive the first public version of Coin next year as part of their initial pledge. They also offered a full refund to anyone who didn’t want to wait until next year to receive their Coin.
I’m one of those early Coin backers and until last week, never questioned the company’s sincerity. In fact, I found its open line of communication with backers second to none. Like many, I found last week’s news very distressing — not that the product was delayed, but that they were asking for more money.
Things appear to be back on track. I plan to join the Coin Beta, and can’t wait to receive my first-generation Coin next year.
As Brent Dirks noted, the official iOS app is expected to arrive on Thursday, Aug. 28 for beta users, but it will do so with some significant drawbacks. Coin Beta only has an 85 percent swipe acceptance and the company recommends that users carry a physical backup credit card. It will also only work for two years.
If you still want to jump on the Coin bandwagon, you can preorder one now for $75. That price is expected to increase in September.
