NewDealDesign, the San Francisco studio best known for the look of the Fitbit activity tracker, has released a conceptual design for Scrip, a device for making digital payments. Its surface, which is made up of tiny, diamond-shaped sections, changes with each transaction. The goal: to restore a physical dimension—and perhaps a measure of restraint—to the act of purchasing.
The Essentials
- Scrip weighs an ounce and is designed to fit comfortably in the change pocket of a pair of jeans.
- Users would load funds from their checking accounts onto the device through a cell phone. To pay, they’d make a swiping gesture, as if they were handing somebody cash.
- The surface of the Scrip would change to show the new account balance. The amount also appears on an illuminated display.
The PersonalNewDeal founder Gadi Amit noticed his daughters had been better at managing their money back when it consisted only of bills and coins. Today, his debit card-toting teenagers are always broke, he says.
The TheoreticalPaying with cash causes physical discomfort, according to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, but it also makes people feel a closer connection to whatever they’ve purchased. Researchers told subjects that a coffee mug was worth $6.95, then sold it to them for $2. When the researchers asked to buy back the mug, people who had paid by credit card asked for an average of $3.83, while those who had used cash demanded $6.71.
The FutureGiven the obsession with making payment frictionless, Amit says, Scrip may never reach the market. But he says the exercise is worth it: “It’s about introducing off-mainstream ideas back into the discussion.”
To contact the author of this story: Joshua Brustein in New York at jbrustein@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Cristina Lindblad at mlindblad1@bloomberg.net.
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