Online shopping has come a long ways. It wasn’t that long ago when you rolled the dice every time you purchased something online. Would it arrive? Were you getting ripped off? Companies started using better encryption techniques and Paypal came out providing relief for many online shoppers.
Now a Canadian company wants to take online security one step further by allowing you to swipe your own credit card every time you make a purchase online. Is SmartSwipe the future of online shopping?
The Design
SmartSwipe is a tiny little device that connects to your computer via USB. It’s actually quite small, just slightly larger than the palm of your hand.
From a design aspect, it’s really quite stylish. The shell is built from a smokey, glossy plastic. Blue LEDs beam out of the slot where you slide your credit card. The unit also features a retractable USB cable so you can make it as short, or as long as you need it.
The Setup
The SmartSwipe is not plug and play. You will need software in order to use the device. Once the software and drivers have been installed you are ready to go. Simply make your way to your favorite retail website and SmartSwipe will be ready to use! There’s really not much to it.
The Experience
The concept behind SmartSwipe seems fairly simple. Once you get to a retail checkout page, a popup appears on your screen asking if you wish to use SmartSwipe to continue with the transaction. Once you click on the pop up you are asked to swipe your credit card. The program will then automatically fill in the blanks on the credit card info page.
The SmartSwipe popup appears when you enter retail checkout pages
It is important to note when the software fills in your credit card information it only shows up as a padlock symbol on screen. All card information inserted into the blank form on screen is encrypted to make sure information isn’t stored on your computer. This is important when you consider someone could be watching you remotely, or has maybe installed a keylogger on your computer. IF someone had a keylogger on your computer, they would see the credit card numbers you typed in. Mind you most people at home don’t have to worry about keyloggers!
Once your credit card information has been inserted you will proceed through the checkout process as normal. Voila, you just made your first purchase!
The process is simple and quick. It will save you from typing in all your credit card information and it does give you a sense of power being able to swipe your own card. It’s kinda fun! You still have to type in your shipping address etc. It would be nice if it filled this in as well, but unfortunately that is not the case.
The Downsides
While I liked the idea behind SmartSwipe, we found it didn’t always work. I went to a few websites where the SmartSwipe popup did not appear once we got to the checkout page. I was forced to type in our credit card numbers manually. This is not the point of this device! I eventually narrowed down the problem, figuring out SmartSwipe worked well with major online retailers, but some of the smaller boutique and mom and pop stores did not work with the software.
After getting frustrated beyond belief, I went to the manufacturers website and noticed there was a software update. After I downloaded and installed it, I was able to use SmartSwipe on just about every site I had previously tried. It’s clear the company is improving the reliability as time goes on!
One other point to mention, SmartSwipe did create a nice scratch along the magnetic strip of all my credit cards. These were noticeably deep scratches, deeper than those you would see on your card after visiting a store. You can actually feel some resistance on your card as you swipe it through the device. While the cards seemed to work fine at physical retail outlets afterwards, it would be interesting to see if extended use would take a toll on your cards.
The Bottom Line
I have mixed feeling about this device. While it does provide an extra layer of security, and it was kinda fun to use, it does beg the question is it really necessary. We suppose extra security is not a bad thing.
What is bad is when a product doesn’t work 100% of the time. We found this downright frustrating! If you didn’t know where to look for the “check for software update” option in the program’s menu, you would be just as frustrated as I was! Users who are not computer literate could easily run into this problem if they did not realize this option existed. That being said it’s only fair to point out the company is making improvements and the new software seemed to fix most of the problems. Thank you!
Avid online shoppers could probably make use of SmartSwipe. It definitely saves time and energy since you don’t have to re-type your credit card numbers each time you make a purchase. For those who make the occasional purchase online, probably not worth the $90 as it will most likely sit and collect dust on your desk.
The Good
easy to install
easy to use
adds an extra layer of encryption
The Bad
didn’t work on all websites
put deep scratches on our credit cards
UPDATE: SmartSwipe has contacted me to say the installer now prompts you to download the latest software during initial installation! Thanks SmartSwipe for the update.