Homeless people are now wearing BARCODES to encourage more donations in cashless society
Homeless people are now wearing BARCODES
to encourage more donations in cashless society
The
new initiative called Greater Change, backed by Oxford University, hands
homeless people a QR code similar to those used for online tickets
·
Hana Carter 09:44, 9 AUG 2018 UPDATED16:37, 9 AUG
2018
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A charity
working with homeless people have created wearable
barcodes in a bid to help increase donations in a cashfree society.
The new initiative called Greater
Change, backed by Oxford University, hands homeless people a QR code similar to
those used for online tickets
People who want to give money, but do
not have change to hand, can scan the code using their phone and make an online
payment to the person.
The scheme also aims to make a change to
the homeless problem in the UK by helping those off the street and back in to
work and accomedation.
Each account is managed by a case worker
who ensures that the money is spent sensibly and will make a positive impact
towards the life of the individual.
The agreed targets can go to towards
such things as a passport or rental deposit.
Alex McCallion, founder of Greater
Change, told the BBC: "The problem we’re trying to solve here is that we
live in an increasingly cashless society and as well as this when people give
they worry about what this money might be spent on.
"So the solution we’ve come up with
is a giving mechanism through your smart phone with a restrictive fund"
To give the transaction a personal
touch, good Samaritans will also be presented with a profile on the rough
sleeper. It will give information on their circumstances, what their job used
to be and how they became homeless in the first place.·
The project, which is being trialled in
Oxford, is supported by Oxford University Innovation and Oxford’s Said Business
School.
The Big Issue has previously said that
Britain's move towards a cashless society is contributing to declining sales as
it trials contactless payments to help the homeless.
The magazine, which is sold by homeless
people, has suffered as a result of people walking up and down Britain's high
streets without coins and notes in their pockets, as they now rely on cards and
mobile phones for payments.
Russell Blackman, the Big Issue’s
managing director, said earlier this year that they are looking into ways to
roll out cashless payments to all its vendors.
“It is vital that we develop the right
contactless solution for our vendors, ensuring that they can get instant access
to their funds, even if they don’t have their own bank account due to a lack of
permanent address,” he said.
Neil Coyle MP,
the Labour co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ending Homelessness
told The Telegraph : “Necessity has again
become the mother of invention and now there is an app to try and help generate
more public donations to homeless people.Is
“This intervention should not be
necessary but with a Government ignoring the scale of the problem, any extra
donations may help homeless people directly.”
He added that homelessness has escalated
in recent years, and the app will not help address the broader issues such as a
lack of drug and alcohol cessation programmes, affordable housing and mental
health care.
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