Contactless payment technology has become more widespread over recent years, and the pandemic has seen more restaurants, retailers, and other services adopt cashless payments, upping the spending caps to facilitate the new normal that's speeding up the inevitable transition from physical currency to a digital-only affair.
The latest innovation on this front makes the process even more convenient, and could see you ditch your purse or wallet altogether for a device that can store multiple cards and is compact enough to attach to your keychain.
- Atari just crashed the PS5 party with a brand new console
- Disney Plus just added a brilliant new feature subscribers will love
- Apple AirPods Pro 2 leak reveals price and new features
OV Valet is the brainchild of the Will Graylin, and George Wallner – the team responsible for Samsung Pay, and LoopPay, to name a few.
The device stores info for all of your cards, and it works with 94% of businesses globally, so you can leave your plastic and change at home.
It manages this by combining NFC and the new MST technology (Magnetic Secure Transmission) invented by the OV Loop founders; in a nutshell, this means that it works with magstripe card readers, and even old POS card terminals.
Security isn't an issue either thanks to one-time-use tokens that means you're safe if a card reader is hacked; and it only works when you press the button, so skimming attempts are futile.
Even online shopping becomes more secure, with a randomised three-digit security code being generated for online payments.
- iPhone 12 ridiculed by Samsung for "most basic" fail
- PS5 controllers appear on store shelves – but you can't buy them
OV Valet has some other nifty features, like its two-way Bluetooth tracker that lets you locate your Superkey with your phone, and vice versa.
If you wander too far away from the mini card, your phone will alert you, and if you lose it, you can suspend functionality in the app, and resume if and when you find it, meaning you don't have to get on the phone with your bank and deal with cancelling cards if you've absentmindedly misplaced them.
At the moment, it only exists as a working demo, but if this looks like something you can envision dangling from your keychain, you can head to the Indiegogo page and bid $69/ £53 for a single device, $129/ £99 for two, or $185/ £141 for three.
Those prices are discounted by at least 30%, but the campaign is already halfway towards its goal with 28 days left, so it's worth getting in on the action now.
For more solid discounts on products that already exist, swing by our Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday deals hubs.
Source: Android Police
