rewrite this title Cash App Experiments with New Payment Form Factors – Finovate

Cash App launched Cash App Tags, NFC-enabled, payment “accessories” that let customers pay without their phone or card.

The first of these new tags comes in the form of a wand, but the company said that other form factors will be available in the future.

While payments companies have tried and failed to move the payments form factor from cards and phones, the wands may succeed because they are visible, social, and impossible to ignore.

Cash App announced a new payment form factor yesterday that is so outrageous it would have dropped the jaws of payments executives in 2014 to the floor. The payments company unveiled the first release of Cash App Tags, NFC-enabled, payment “accessories” that let customers pay without their phone or card.

The pilot Cash App Tag comes in the form of a pearlescent wand, aptly called Cash App Wand. Eligible users ages 13 and up with an active Cash App Card can activate their wand by linking their wand to their Cash App Card using the Cash App on their phone. Once the wand is activated, customers can tap to pay without holding a phone or card. 

The new form factors will work where Visa tap-to-pay is accepted and there are no minimum balance or activity requirements. Just like Cash App’s payment cards, Tags offer real-time transaction alerts, 24/7 fraud monitoring, and the ability to instantly lock, unlock, and deactivate them within the app.

Odds are that if you’re reading this, Cash App’s Tags aren’t marketed to your demographic. The company explicitly designed them for Gen Z customers as a new form of expression and for use in situations where phones aren’t allowed or are too cumbersome to pull out of a bag. Cash App is anticipating that users will want to collect them like Labubu dolls. In a recent survey of Gen Z consumers, the company found that 38% of this generation purchases collectibles, accessories, or limited edition items at least monthly.

“While digital wallets are invisible and physical cards are often buried in wallets, Cash App Tags are just the opposite,” said Block Hardware Lead Thomas Templeton. “We see a unique opportunity here to make payments visible and social for the first time. Early testers have told us that they’ve loved carrying the Wand and showing it off at checkout, so we believe there’s a real appetite for this among our customers”

The Cash App Wand is now available for $25 in the app, and the company plans to release limited runs of new designs in the coming weeks. “We see this as an early starting point for Cash App Tags. The number of form factors we can create is nearly limitless,” added Templeton. “From clothing to jewelry, almost any item can become a way to pay with this technology. We’re looking forward to hearing what our customers want to see next.”

I can’t decide whether I love this or hate this. Payment companies have tried for over a decade to move the payment form factor from the phone to a ring, fitness band, and even a Timex watch, but each effort has failed to gain traction. At the same time, the industry has been hyper-focused on making payments invisible, and this is the exact opposite. Perhaps moving the form factor to something as outrageous as a wand will succeed because it is visible, social, and impossible to ignore.

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