“Stratos is reinventing the wallet. Just as consumers have migrated their music collections into digital formats such as iTunes, so too are cardholders now compressing what goes into their wallet,” said Thiago Olson, co-founder and CEO of Stratos. “Bringing the Stratos Digital Card Issuance Platform to card issuers marks a big step for us in the payment industry. We look forward to working with card issuers so they can leverage the platform to better grow and retain loyal cardholder customers while providing customers with a more convenient and secure in-store payment solution.”

The Stratos Digital Card Issuance Platform will:

• Provide the ability to collect and analyze aggregated, consolidated card behavior offering unprecedented visibility into customer card utilization patterns.
• Facilitate powerful “Top of Wallet” cardholder engagement and loyalty through push notifications, location-based recommendations, virtual issuance, and other features.
• Eliminate costly physical card fulfillment and reduce cost of customer acquisition and retention.
• Offer greater security than traditional, plastic cards.

“Users are sick of carrying lots of cards most of which they only occasionally use and financial institutions would love to cut much of the cost out of issuing and managing cards,” said Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst for the Enderle Group.  “The Stratos Card potentially provides consumers with the one card solution they have been praying for without forcing them to learn a new technology and financial institutions can retain the same values of a physical card while eliminating much of the cost of having to manufacture and deliver them.”

In the U.S., where more than two billion plastic payment cards are shipped annually, Stratos is making wallets flatter, not fatter. The Stratos membership-based all-in-one digital card consolidates credit, debit, rewards, membership, gift cards and other payment cards into a single dynamic card. As consumers gravitate toward next-generation payments, they prefer “universal” payment cards with their familiar ease and convenience, broad acceptance, and greater security to smartphones or wearable devices like a smart watch. After a successful March launch, Stratos began shipping in April.

At Finovate, Stratos will be demonstrating the Stratos Card Issuance Platform on stage for the first time. Company representatives will also explain many features of the Stratos Card, including its Dual Stripe technology that gives it greater acceptance than other mobile payment solutions, and its patented cardholder-controlled Card LockDown feature that provides the highest level of security by shutting down when the card is outside Bluetooth range of a customer’s smartphone.

FinovateSpring is a demo-based conference for innovative startups and established companies in the fields of banking and financial technology. Held in San Jose, the event offers an insight-packed glimpse into the future of money via a fast-paced, intimate, and unique format. FinovateSpring is organized by The Finovate Group. For more information on the event or to view videos of previous demos, please visit finovate.com .

About Stratos, Inc.

Stratos is the creator of the award-winning Stratos Bluetooth Connected Card™, which empowers issuers with a new card offering that consolidates an unlimited number of loyalty, membership and gift cards into a single, smart, dynamic card -- digitizing the wallet. With patented security features and acceptance at more places than any other mobile payment offering, Stratos streamlines the payment experience and empowers cardholders to make better payment decisions. Merchants and issuers partnering with Stratos are able to strengthen loyalty and engagement with better data and improved communications to their customers without infrastructure change. Stratos was founded by Thiago Olson, Chris Bartenstein and Henry Balanon and is based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company is funded by Toba Capital Partners, Western Technology Investment, Resonant Venture Partners and Hyde Park Venture Partners. For more information, visit stratoscard.com. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.