Fitbit acquires Coin's payment platform; no more Coin smart cards coming

Fitbit has announced it has acquired both the payment platform and key personnel from the "smart card" company Coin. The specific financial terms of the deal, which was completed on May 12, were not disclosed.

Fitbit stated:

While there are no plans to integrate Coin's wearable payments technology into the 2016 Fitbit product roadmap, the acquisition accelerates Fitbit's ability to develop an active NFC payment solution that could be embedded into future Fitbit devices, broadening its smart capabilities.

In a separate blog post Coin stated that it will no longer sell any of its smart payment products. People who already own them can continue to use them "for the duration of its lifetime". It added:

Coin smart payment devices will still combine your credit, debit and gift cards. All product features will continue to function, with the exception of Coin Rewards, which is getting retired.

Coin first announced its "smart card" designed to replace all of a person's credit and debit cards, several years ago, After several delays, it began shipping a limited number of those cards in April 2015.

John Callaham