Forget lending money against your car or home, or even pawning your watches and jewellery. A finance company in Hong Kong, Yes Lady Finance Co., is accepting luxury handbags as collateral for cash loans, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Bring in your designer handbag (Gucci, Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Prada are the accepted brands) and within half an hour, you can receive a loan at 80% of the bag’s value to be paid off at 4% monthly interest within four months.

The novel lending arrangement targets wealthy women whose cash may be tied up in shares, fixed term accounts or, like Carrie Bradshaw, invested in their closets.

A recent loan from Yes Lady against an Hermès Birkin provided one customer with over US$20,000 in cash, while another woman walked away with US$38,000 in cash after handing over more than 40 Gucci bags. Unlike a car, for example, which depreciates in value, iconic designer handbags or special-editions are likely to hold their worth over the years.

It allows the borrowers to by-pass banks and other traditional lending institutions, and to forgo credit checks and proof of income. All they need is a Hong Kong address and identification card. Assessors will verify that the bag is genuine and in good condition. But the company won’t be fooled by fakes – when a fake bag is brought in, Yes Lady will politely decline the loan, without telling the hopeful pledger that their handbag is a counterfeit.

Source: Vogue