Contactless payments are great, but have you ever paid for your coffee with a magic wand?
Cash App, the digital payments service run by Block, has just launched the Cash App Wand – a pearlescent, star-shaped, NFC-enabled keychain accessory that lets you tap to pay at any contactless terminal. Yes, it is a real product that costs $25, and it is available right now for Cash App Card holders to buy in the app.
So how does this magical wand work?
The Cash App Wand is the first product under a new hardware line called Cash App Tags. Tags are NFC-enabled physical devices that require no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection to function. To set one up, you simply hold it to the back of your phone, and it links directly to your Cash App account.
After that, it works exactly like a debit card, except it clips onto your keychain or handbag like a charm bracelet. Block’s hardware lead Thomas Templeton says the whole idea is to make payments feel visible, fun, and expressive again.
He points out that digital payments have made buying things almost invisible, and even Cash App’s own cards spend 90% of their time sitting in people’s pockets. Cash App wants the wand to be the first thing you reach for when it is time to pay.
This is just the beginning of Cash App Tags
The wand is the first of many quirky tap-to-pay hardware designs coming down the line. Limited runs of new Cash App Tag designs will drop to Cash App cardholders in the coming weeks, with general availability opening up later this summer.
Whether you need a wand to pay for your morning coffee or just want to feel like a wizard at the checkout counter, Cash App has you covered.
And if a magic wand wasn’t enough to make you spend more money, Google is also making online checkout faster and easier than ever by removing OTP and replacing it with a simple biometric check.