Pretty interesting. Here's my guess at how this works:
Wallaby is both a card issuer and (working with) a processor. The merchant's processor routes the charge to them like a normal card. Then Wallaby selects the appropriate card number and proxys the charge via their own processor to that card's issuer. I.e. the same round-trip transaction, they're just a man-in-the-middle swapping out card numbers. The issuers never see a difference.
Couple issues they'd have to have worked out for this:
1. Getting approval from the card network to proxy a transaction like this. Given the founder's background with Green Dot I can see them having the pull to drive that.
2. Dealing with chargebacks. The merchant will have a record of the Wallaby card number because that's what's swiped through the POS. But the customer will see it on their actual card's bill (let's say Chase). If they file a dispute, and Chase contacts the merchant, there's a card number mismatch. I wonder what their solution is for this. Perhaps they instruct cardmembers to initiate disputes with them and they proxy those as well.
Overall I have to say I like this a little better than Coin, if only because it's simpler. You don't have to make any decisions each time you pay, you just configure it through the cloud, which can actually make smarter decisions for you. And it's not $100.
This looks like it work great for optimizing/consolidating personal cards, but one advantage Coin offers is the flexibility of charging normal purchases to a business account. I'm not sure how Wallaby could discriminate if my restaurant meal or office supplies are a business expense or just personal use.
Either way I'm all for any innovation that thins out the number of cards in my wallet (with the goal being zero.)
True. But it would work with all of your personal cards, which is the main proliferation problem.
You could use them together. Get a Wallaby as your "one" smart personal card, and if you feel like springing $100 to go from 2 cards down to 1, you've got Coin.
Personally I'd be a tad worried about handing my Coin to a server to charge a big business meal. What if they accidentally tap the button and switch to my personal card when they're holding it?
Wallaby is both a card issuer and (working with) a processor. The merchant's processor routes the charge to them like a normal card. Then Wallaby selects the appropriate card number and proxys the charge via their own processor to that card's issuer. I.e. the same round-trip transaction, they're just a man-in-the-middle swapping out card numbers. The issuers never see a difference.
Couple issues they'd have to have worked out for this:
1. Getting approval from the card network to proxy a transaction like this. Given the founder's background with Green Dot I can see them having the pull to drive that.
2. Dealing with chargebacks. The merchant will have a record of the Wallaby card number because that's what's swiped through the POS. But the customer will see it on their actual card's bill (let's say Chase). If they file a dispute, and Chase contacts the merchant, there's a card number mismatch. I wonder what their solution is for this. Perhaps they instruct cardmembers to initiate disputes with them and they proxy those as well.
Overall I have to say I like this a little better than Coin, if only because it's simpler. You don't have to make any decisions each time you pay, you just configure it through the cloud, which can actually make smarter decisions for you. And it's not $100.