J's been getting out and about quite a bit lately... and with increasing outings, there's been a need to 'sort out' money and paying. Having a problem dealing with social situations and with the additional difficulties his essential tremor brings meant we were on the look out for something to allow simple transactions.
Last year I was part of the Barclays #AccessHealthCare hackathon and have kept in touch with them through their twitter @BarclaysAccess account. I'd mentioned that I felt there must be a way to meet J's needs without him having to carry around cash. Having kept looking for potential options to assist J, nothing had met with his requirements.
Then, in the summer, we were sent a bPay loop by Kathryn as she thought it may be what I was looking for... I attached it to J's lanyard and activated it online. As the lanyard is something J's very familiar with, he was happy to 'have a go' with the bPay loop once he understood it allowed him to pay without needing to "mess about with coins".
His first trial was at a local cafe where he usually struggles to get his money ready. It was a great success and he was even able to ask "do you take contactless payment?" and then use the loop to pay.
J's next success was finding the sports centre where his weekly club is held also has a contactless terminal at the front desk. We no longer have to remember to ask about change and find the right coins to pay - J just taps to pay and it's all done!
An interesting development when out and about with his bPay loop is that J is willing to engage in conversation with people about contactless payment, and is happy to explain how it works. Spending is tracked through auto top up texts sent to my phone and we are working together talking about budgeting so J understands this is not just 'magic money' which appears from nowhere. He loves his bPay and says it, like the name Felipe, as if it's his friend. A great tool for our family in certain situations.