In the latest edition of real news that sounds like fake news, we have this story from the Netherlands. According to NFC World, homeless people in Amsterdam and Rotterdam are testing out a jacket that receives contact-less payments.
Anyone who wishes to make a donation to a specific homeless person wearing the jacket just has to tap their contact-less cards to the jacket’s contact-less terminal. Then, a one euro donation will be made, and the receiver can redeem the money from an official homeless shelter.
N=5, a Dutch advertising agency, created The Helping Heart jacket to make it easier for people to make donations to the homeless, even if they aren’t carrying cash.
“In a warm and comfortable winter coat, we integrated a device which allows people to donate one euro by tapping their card on it,” N=5’s Merel Hoogendorp told NFC World. “The only way to redeem the money received this way is through one of the official shelters.
“The money never goes to the homeless person as cash, but is always redeemed in kind. This way, it can be spent on a place to sleep, a shower or food. The homeless person can also choose to spend it on self-improvement, like vocational training courses or even in building up savings,” Hoogendorp added.
Supposedly, the jacket has received a lot of positive feedback, but only time will tell if this is the future of donations.
What do you think of the contact-less jacket?
