On Thursday, California fintech Edge Mobile Payments announced it has acquired digital payments company Plastc as it prepares to enhance its smartcard technology platform. The new acquisition will also enable Edge to build on Plastc’s progress and accelerate the release of its upcoming Edge Card.
According to Edge, the Edge Card will store the information of multiple payment cards into one dynamic card and allow users to pay with all three primary payment card methods, magstripe, EMV chip and NFC. It will also feature a color screen composed of flexible organic materials for account navigation as well as improved card security and support for cryptocurrency. While sharing more details about the acquisition, Peter Garrett, Founder and CEO of Edge, stated:
“While Plastc ran out of funding before it could ship a completed product, the company made significant progress in engineering and marketing a dynamic payment card. This acquisition will accelerate our production timeline and move us closer to what the public wants: a dynamic payment card with improved security that consolidates all your cards into one.”
Edge also noted that as part of the Plastc asset purchase, it has agreed to provide a significant benefit to Plastc preorder customers: a $50 discount toward the purchase of the Edge Card. Garrett added:
“Consumers use over a billion magstripe cards with technology that hasn’t changed in nearly 50 years. Our Edge Card will bring consumer payments into the modern age, while making them more convenient and secure. For the Plastc backers, we value their contributions and want to honor their support.”
A broad Edge Card beta program will begin in the first half of 2018 and shortly afterward, the Edge Card will be available to the general public.
