Tap and donate: How a cashless society is creating jobs for the homeless

LONDON: A bitter January wind is biting in central London and passers-by shrink into their coats. But Liam, who is homeless, is still smiling as he tries to get people to stop and talk to him. Aside from his winning smile, he also offers intrigue - what is that strange box hanging from his neck? “I say to people: Hi, like to come and talk about this box? The box makes people stop,” said Liam, 34, who is currently sleeping in a night shelter. People can tap their credit or debit cards on his box to give a three pounds (about $4) donation via contactless payment.

Two pounds goes towards Liam’s wages; the other pound is donated to two homeless charities. In return, donors get a small art card depicting one of the week’s news events. Tapping into the increasing use of contactless payments for everything from commuting to rounds of drinks, social enterprise TAP London is offering work for the homeless as charity fundraisers, all without any cash changing hands. Homelessness is on the rise in England, with at least 4,100 people sleeping rough on any given night in 2016, according to the homeless charity Crisis.

At the same time, use of contactless payments more than doubled last year, according to trade group The UK Card Association. All of TAP London’s vendors are homeless and telling their personal stories often persuades people to donate. Since being kicked out of his family home at the age of 16, Liam has spent the last 18 years on and off the streets, struggling with cocaine and alcohol addiction. Following rehab, he’s been clean for 13 months. “I’m trying to do something different rather than sit there and moan that the government won’t do anything to help me,” said Liam, who declined to give his full name.

The idea for the social enterprise came after TAP cofounder Polly Gilbert tried to donate food to a homeless man one evening. He rejected the hot dog she offered, explaining he had already been given five that evening. “Both of us had cared about homelessness but were frustrated at not knowing what to do,” fellow co-founder Katie Whitlock, 28, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Newspaper reports about street beggars making lucrative gains by pretending to be homeless and concerns about donated money supporting addictions have left people confused about whether to give money, said Whitlock.—Reuters