If you walk past a homeless person in Amsterdam testing a new payment device, they won’t ask for change, just credit: If you want to donate money, you can hold up your credit card to wirelessly transfer one euro.
Designers at the agency N=5, which designed the prototype, were inspired by two insights. “The first: These days, we tend to carry little or no cash at all,” says Merel Hoogendorp, part of the team that created the jacket. “Secondly, most people would like to help the homeless, but they feel that giving money basically goes to supporting addictions. So, we wondered how we can make it easier for people to help others who need it.”
The prototype incorporates the payment device inside a warm winter jacket; someone making a donation with a smart card taps the jacket pocket. The money is transferred into a bank account managed by a homeless shelter.
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