SWYP CARD

Lugging around a bunch of gift, debit, credit and loyalty cards on you is not always fun – they take up way too much precious wallet space and there’s always a chance that you may lose or be robbed of one or more of them as you’re trying to get through your hectic day in the big city. Do not despair – there’s a remedy to all your card-related woes: hail Swyp, a new hi-tech card that’s looking to replace all your vital ATM and other essential cards! From what we’ve seen so far, it’s fully capable of doing the job, no strings, wires or cords attached.

Designed as a diminutive and super-slim metallic card with a couple of scroll buttons up front, magnetic strip on the back and a special black-and-white screen that turns into a convenient credit, gift, loyalty or store-specific card when you need it most, Swyp allows you to make your payments as easy as A, B, C when used within your smartphone range (around six feet of Bluetooth coverage). Conveniently enough, the card will automatically lock when out of your phone Bluetooth network range to prevent any unwanted account thefts, illegal payments and/or financial transfers by a lucky card founder and similar common unpleasantries. But what if you forget your phone at home or in the office and still need to use Swyp? Don’t worry, creator of this handy multipurpose card Ash Dhodapkar has you all covered: in case you chance to leave your phone behind, you’ll still be able to whip out your Swyp and make the payment if you have the custom PIN code that can be entered onto the card to unlock and access your virtual piggy bank.

But how does Swyp work exactly? Well, for starters, it has a special dynamic magnetic strip at the back and it works in conjunction with a magnetic reader that attaches to the phone’s headphone jack to let you scan your regular debit and credit cards (as many as 25 of them) and upload and import data from them. Swyp also comes with an intelligent companion application that stores your financial data and allows you to morph your Swyp into any card you need, view account balance, expiration date and security code for each card, as well as manage your money on the card, send or share gift cards with family and friends and keep a reliable virtual record of your photographed paper receipts for private book-keeping made easy. To use your new multipurpose card, you’ll just need to pick your favorite card, scroll though various payment forms with the help of the front buttons (at this stage, the buttons are clicky, but they should be touch-sensitive in the final product) and perform the transaction at any spot you’d normally use your regular plastic card.

According to the Swyp creator, this cool card will ship with a rechargeable internal battery that should provide for around two years of use before needing a recharge. The first delivery dates are set for fall 2015, with the retail price at $99 – but if you go wise and pre-order your Swyp now, you’ll be getting it for an incredible $49, so don’t wait too long before you merge all your credit, debit, loyalty and gift cards into one convenient package. [via] watch video below