by Despite the best efforts of mobile wallet providers, consumers continue to largely ignore technology in favor of old-fashioned payment methods. The folks at Loop think they’ve found a better way, but can it become the one solution to pay everyone?
The Loop Fob is a plastic widget that works in conjunction with the free Loop Wallet app to securely read (and store) credit or debit card info using a swiper on the back. Instead of requiring a near-field communication (NFC) chip, Loop sends a magnetically charged signal to credit card readers, emulating the swipe of real plastic.
The Loop Fob looks a lot like a Square Reader dongle, but it’s nearly twice as big and too bulky to carry on a keychain. We scanned nearly 30 credit, debit, and loyalty cards into the Loop Fob, and only one failed to read. Loop couldn’t determine why, especially when two others from the same bank (Chase) worked.
