A new all-in one credit card has stepped into the market, hoping to tap into the base of consumers who enjoy using a credit card, but would like a slightly digitally upgraded version.
Stratos has recently raised $5.8 million to bring their take on the all-in-one card to the shopping public, and while they are not the first with the idea, CEO Thiago Olson says his Michigan-based company brings a unique set of features with it.
“We don’t think there is a comparable offering with the card and platform,” Olson said. “We’ll be unsurpassed in use of use and reliability. You want it to be accepted everywhere,” Olson said, reports TechCrunch.
Key to differentiating itself is its Chip-and-PIN integration, which competitor Plastiq will not be able to offer in its first generation cards. Like competitors Coin and Plastiq, it comes ready to use with NFC for contactless payments. Unlike its phone-based mobile wallet rivals, the Stratos card will be workable at ATMs for cash transactoins.
The new round of funding will go toward accelerating and scaling its recruiting and manufacturing. Unlike rival services, the company did not launch a kickstart campaign or court the press before having a working product–noting that the key to igniting this technology is having it work correctly out of the box the first time.
The business, however, seems ready to come out to the public as announced a switch of focus from R&D to to prepping for launch along with the new cash infusion.
Unlike PlastC, which is demanding that consumers shell out USD $155 to try its cards, Stratos has not announced pricing.
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