Payment company Card Cutters has launched a prototype scarf equipped with contactless payment technology. The Swish and Pay scarf is designed for the consumer already laden with bags at the checkout. Rather than rummaging for their wallet or purse, the consumer would simply have to drape their scarf over the card terminal to pay for their goods.

The prototype uses a contactless payment chip from a bank card sewn in to the scarf. It’s unclear how the real thing would work in practice in terms of pairing the scarf to the customer’s credit or debit card in the way you do when using something like Apple Pay, for example.

The Swish and Pay scarf was created following research by Card Cutters that showed juggling shopping bags at the tills at Christmas to be one of the most stressful experiences a shopper goes through. More than 60 per cent of the public see festive shopping as chore. Further research revealed that scarves were one of the most popular wearable items consumers would like to see created, followed by gloves, bags and bracelets.

“There are currently 98.9m contactless cards in issue in the UK,” said Card Cutters UK director,
Paul Edwards. “This product trial is all about the consumer saving time rather than having to fumble around for your card. Equally though, a business would also be able to get through more sales in a shorter timeframe.”