San Francisco studio New Deal Design has devised a small copper-coloured device that allows users to make purchases by swiping its textured surface, as "a modern replacement for cash" (+ slideshow).
Scrip is a conceptual handheld metal "token" that could be used to make digital payments.

It would feature a tactile surface made up of tiny diamond-shaped sections that rise and fall during use.
Users would transfer money onto the device, and make swiping movements designed to mimic the handing over of cash to pay for items.

Video showing how the Scrip digital payment device would work
Other possible transactions would also include the withdrawal of funds from banks, currency exchange in foreign countries and passing money between individuals.
"The societal transition from gold bars, to coins, to notes, to now a touch of a credit card, or the brush of a finger, has left our financial exchanges without value," said New Deal Design.
"As we increasingly spend through contactless and automatic methods, we are left with little time to think about what we are spending, and derive any sense of pleasure or pain from the transaction."
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