Stratos' Connected Card Is More Than Just An Apple Pay Clone

Will it ever be possible for consumers to carry just one card? If any startup is capable of making that happen, it might be Stratos. Like other smart payment options, Stratos allows users to apply all of their cards -- credit, debit, loyalty, membership, gift cards, etc. -- to one Bluetooth-connected card. Stratos differs by providing a number of security and service features that help it stand out from the crowd. "Our target market is to really fulfill the demands of the increasing tech consumer and the evolving payments industry," Henry Balanon, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Stratos, told Benzinga. In October, Stratos co-founder and CEO Thiago Olson told Benzinga about the benefits of having an actual card. "[Our payment solution] is a connected device," said Olson. "The interesting part is, instead of a [phone or] smartwatch that is dependent on the NFC infrastructure, we're in a form factor -- the card form factor -- so you can fit this into an ATM and use it just like you would a normal card. It's backwards compatible with the current infrastructure. I think a lot of wallets could benefit from a solution like this that works everywhere you normally need a card to work." Stratos may not depend on near-field communication, but the company does plan to add NFC in the future.

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Three-Way Touch

One of Stratos' unique features includes three touch sensors on the front of the card. Each sensor corresponds to a different payment option. For example, the first sensor could be a MasterCard, the second could be a Visa, etc. This allows users to quickly swap out their payment options -- but only when the touch sensors are active. "If they were active all the time, you yourself could just select the wrong one accidentally or someone else could," said Balanon. To get around this issue, Stratos is locked until a user taps the card onto any surface. After two taps, lights flash in front of each sensor, indicating that a new card may be selected. This is not the only way to select a card. Users can go into their digital wallet within their smartphone and add new cards, rearrange payment options and perform an override to use a card that isn't in the top three. "Ninety percent of the time you're using the same three cards," said Balanon. "Our vision is that those three cards are largely static and you store the rest of your cards in your wallet on your phone -- your cards that you don't use as often." Users can always see which card is which by checking the app, but Balanon is confident that they will quickly memorize the location of each payment option.

Safety First

Stratos includes an optional lockout feature that will prevent the card from being used if it is separated from the user's phone for too long. To demonstrate, Balanon set it for five minutes. If he were to get up and leave his Stratos card behind, it would not be usable after five minutes had passed. "If someone picks this up and tries to do something with it, they won't be able to because the card would be locked down," said Balanon.

New Upgrades

The first-generation Stratos card can run for two years without needing to be recharged. The company plans to send out new cards every year that include various hardware upgrades. "We don't just want people to have our future features and all the latest and greatest insights and things like that on the mobile and cloud side," Balanon explained. "We also want people to have the latest and greatest security tech on the card side." In short, Stratos' upgrade will allow the company to adapt as new technology hits the market. In addition to NFC, Stratos is also looking into biometric features that could allow users to access the card with a fingerprint. "Not only is this going to be forward compatible with the future as the evolving payments industry happens, but also backwards compatible with the most widely used point-of-sale standard right now, which is the mag stripe," said Balanon. The Stratos card ships in April, sells for $95 and includes one full year of service. A two-year option is also available for $145. Balanon did not provide a timeline for when NFC or biometric authentication may arrive, but he did talk about some of the other enhancements the company is working on. He stressed the value of insights and recommendations, which could remind consumers to use their Starbucks or Best Buy card when visiting one of those locations. Balanon also envisions a future where Stratos will be able to quickly replace a credit card that may have been stolen in a security breach. "Now instead of waiting for something in the mail to come in, you could get that issued to you immediately," said Balanon. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.