iCache, A Good Idea Poorly Implemented

Filed in archive Credit on January 18, 2007

Wouldn't it be great if you could lighten your load of credit, debit and various membership cards, consolidating them all in one "super card" that stored all those numbers?

The answer, if you're hesitating, is yes.

Now, let's say that the way this would work is that you'd carry around a little iPod-sized machine that stored all the card numbers, and every time you wanted to use one, you'd pick it from a menu, and then the little iPoddy machine would spit out a generic-looking card temporarily programmed with the card info of the credit card you chose? That would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?

The answer, in case you're hesitating, is no. Sure, the technology's interesting. But if your desire was to lighten the load in your wallet, in this scenario you're simply replacing a fat wallet with a fat card-number-storing machine. So, you haven't really gotten anywhere.

That's the challenge this new product iCache has. It wants to make your life easier by solving a real problem that some of us have, but it's only replacing one problem for another.

that doesn't mean it can't be fixed. The company's still working on getting banks and credit card companies to deal with them, so there's certainly the chance to make this more user-friendly.

Another challenge for iCache is the fact that multiple trials are already taking place to marry credit card number storing with mobile phones. If someone can consolidate their credit card numbers into a piece of equipment they already carry, which then becomes even more useful while also lightening their loads, why would someone choose the iCache?