My daily commute to work is eased by the Clipper card, an all-in-one transit card that keeps track of my passage and automatically reloads whenever my cash balance falls below $10.
One day I discovered a photo on flickr of AgentAkit’s Clipper card holder and I knew I had to have one too.
After a bit of Googling, I found a company called Identity Stronghold that sells the card holders and other security badge type of items. According to their site, the information embedded in our cards can easily be read by credit card readers that may be concealed by those nearby.
Now, I’m not concerned about someone stealing my Clipper card information but maybe I should be? And it’s not just my Clipper card… enhanced driver licenses, passports, and other cards are regularly embedding our personal information on them. I can see this becoming a very real identity theft issue in the near future. It probably already is but I’m in a bit of denial since most of my cards, I believe, don’t have this level of info on them yet.
Another aspect of security is that I don’t like pulling out my wallet every time I enter/exit a BART station in order to pull out my Clipper card. That’s the real reason I wanted the card holder. So, as you can see from the photos, I’ve attached the card holder, via a secure carabiner & belt clip, to my Timbuktu bag. Now, when I approach the card reader, I simply grab the card, pull it towards me, slide the card slightly out of it’s protective position, and scan it on the reader.
I don’t have to pull out my wallet and I’m protected from rogue card readers.
I bought the holder that can handle two cards but I’m only using one side right now. Unfortunately, my plan to also keep my building security badge on the other side was thwarted because it’s an old school badge that is too thick for this holder. No matter though, it’s an inexpensive solution and I am happy with my purchase.
