Cash App’s new payment wand is pure whimsy

Cash App is introducing a new way of paying: waving a fairy-like wand. The technology is not magic. Instead, it is one of Cash App’s NFC-enabled tags, which lets users complete tap-to-pay transactions without a traditional card or phone. The $25 pearlescent wand features a light green faux gemstone at the center of its star-shaped tip, and it’s small enough to clip to a key chain. With 10,000 wands in the initial drop, the gadget is part of a broader line of Cash App tags. Users connect the wand to their Cash App Card, which is linked to their Cash App account. According to the company, users can expect more tags to be dropped throughout the summer. [Photo: Cash App] “The starting point for us was simple: The card form factor is limited,” Thomas Templeton, the hardware lead at Block, Cash App’s parent company, tells Fast Company. “Even the best card lives in your wallet, tucked away, hidden. We wanted to build something for moments when reaching for a phone or wallet is inconvenient—a festival, a comedy show, a coffee run—but also something people would actually want to be seen using. Visible, expressive, a little playful.” Although the Cash App wand looks fun and magical, some users are concerned that such a small gadget could easily get lost. “How cute, but man, I’d put it down to go [get] something, get distracted & forget it,” a user said on X. Still, the company says that because each tag is linked to a customer’s Cash App Card, users may monitor transactions and lock or unlock a tag using their phone. [Photo: Cash App] While seemingly ingenious, the idea is not entirely new. On social media, dressing up a credit card as a magic wand has become a long-running trend. Often given as a gift to partners and children, these customized cards allow the user to pay by simply waving (or tapping) the wand over a reader—just like Glinda from Oz casting a spell. Some of the original iterations were handcrafted using pap