“Stratos an innovative start-up, offers a unique new style card that works much like a digital wallet connecting and storing all your payment and loyalty cards on a single Bluetooth enabled connected card. The product offers feature rich technology providing enhanced cardholder experiences and added security benefits,” says Madeline K. Aufseeser, senior analyst with Aite Group. “Adding an EMV Chip to Stratos, further enhances the product as the U.S. market marches toward increased EMV and mobile payments adoption by consumers and merchants alike.”

Today’s announcement introduces the first connected device that can fully support both the magnetic stripe payment format and EMV chip format. Stratos believes the migration to EMV/Chip-and-PIN is establishing the foundation for securing payments. As part of Stratos Card’s evolution, Stratos plans to introduce tokenization over NFC as well as loading tokens onto its dynamically changing magstripe. Combined with its EMV Chip, the card will offer new levels of security never seen before on a connected payment device.

“Integrating an EMV chip on Stratos Card is a step in the right direction for a more secure payment for consumers and issuers,” said Thiago Olson, co-founder and CEO of Stratos. “While we are bringing NFC contactless to our cards, the addition of an EMV chip helps smooth the transition from magnetic stripe to NFC for our members and card issuer partners. Our partners are thrilled to see us support their EMV chip cards, since these cards would be top of wallet for their users while offering secured transactions especially important after liability shifts.”

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.