Floppy disk pre-paid cash card launched in Taiwan — NFC payment method 'only has a card function' warns supplier, so keep it out of your FDD

Taiwan’s iPass has released a new custom payment card that looks just like a Floppy Disk. Available in limited quantities starting from Christmas Eve, these portable magnetic storage media from a bygone era lookalikes can be used for payment across the whole of Taiwan’s public transport network, plus a bazillion convenience stores, fast-food outlets, and more. And using a Floppy Disk iPass card would be sure to win you some admiring glances from fellow geeks on the way to Computex.

iPass, EasyCard, what?

Prepaid (or pre-charged) payment cards are very popular in Taiwan. They are widely owned and used to travel on the excellent public transport system. Thus, you can use one of these NFC-embedded iPass cards (or EasyCard) for buses, trains, subways, taxis, and bike rental across the whole island.

Due to their broad acceptance and adoption, these cards are also readily accepted by convenience stores such as 7-Eleven and FamilyMart, as well as supermarkets, malls, pharmacies, and American fast-food outlets like McDonald's and Burger King. Everyone uses these cards, from grandparents to school-age children.

Floppy Disk is a 1:1 scale replica, but don't shove it in your FDD drive

iPass (and EasyCard) takes advantage of the need for folks to be 'individual' by releasing lots of special edition prepaid cards. You can get them with graphics featuring all sorts of anime, sports, pop culture, or commemorative images. However, things have moved quite a way beyond mere stylized cards, with some rather extraordinary iPass ‘cards’ (not actually cards) being sold to users/collectors.

The case in point today is the Floppy Disk iPass, which is actually floppy-disk-sized and available in a black or yellow finish. We don’t know whether the metal cover is spring-loaded and slides to one side, as per an original 3.5-inch floppy. However, the product listing makes clear that it cannot be used as an actual magnetic storage disk. “This product only has a card function and does not have a 3.5mm [sic] disk function, please note before purchasing.” (machine translation)

Other silly iPass ‘cards’

While looking into the iPass floppy disk card, I found other retro tech releases, and some other silly stuff worth highlighting. For example, there’s been a ‘card’ that is modeled on a Motorola DynaTAC - the world's first mobile phone. I also saw listings that offered various model trains, a flip-flop, an Ultraman beta capsule, an LED-lit Godzilla snow globe, a blood-bag, and even a card that was scaled up to be tablet-sized, for some reason (not for convenience, obviously).

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And there’s also oodles of keychains, phone charms, and the like. At the time of writing, on Taiwan’s PCHome24 online tech store, there are 838 different designs of the iPass card that you can buy.

A standard iPass or EasyCard card costs NT$100 (~US$3.20) and comes without stored value. You can add money at transport stations and convenience stores.

Where I live, registered locals get free bus journeys within 20km of the city, plus cheaper local line trains. But the new MRT (light rail) system is not cheaper, it is just more convenient to pay this way as you walk through the turnstile and tap. Having said that, most MRT trips I make cost NT$30 or 35, which is about US$1. Local pensioners get free travel, including the MRT.

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