It seems paradoxical and a little more than ironic to pay
$5,000 for a handbag that purports to save shopaholics from impulse spending,
but perhaps the designers of the iBag2 were considering the fashion accessory
an investment piece.
The technologically enhanced handbag is the second version
of a previous concept bag, the iBag1, which flashed warning lights and sent SMS
alerts whenever users removed their wallet. Executives at personal finance
website Finder.com collaborated with engineers at Dublin-based Colmac
Robotics and New York fashion designer Geova Rodriguez to design the iBag2.
This time the creators created a handbag that flashes, vibrates and eventually physically
locks itself if the warnings are ignored.
The new and improved version includes a built-in GPS that
recognizes when the bag has entered a designated “danger spending zone.” A
vibrating shoulder strap then warns users, while interior LED lights flash to
signal the activation of the self-locking mechanism. The bag remains locked
until users leave the designated spending zone.
Finder.com co-founder Fred Schebesta says the iBag2 is a way
to call attention to the issue of consumer debt. “Anything we can do in order
to make people aware about credit card debt and impulse spending, we think is
really important . . . and what we’re all about.”
Last month the website commissioned a Pureprofile survey of
6,838 American adults that determined 64 percent of Americans make unplanned
purchases with their credit cards each month.
Another survey commissioned in January by the American
Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the Ad Council found that millennials ranked
saving money as their number one goal for 2016 and 65 percent faulted impulse
buying for their lack of savings.
Ultimately, the handbag is an advertisement for Finder.com,
a website that originated in Australia and launched in the United States last
September. The site compares consumer financial products such as credit cards
and travel insurance from partner companies.
The eyebrow raising price tag of the iBag2 inevitably will
put most consumers off from purchasing one.
In this case, a far more economical method for tackling
those impulse spending urges may lie with certified financial planner Carl
Richards' recommendation - "Before buying: wait 72 hours".
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