Jewellers in Milan have started to offer the world a new line in heavenly credit – the rosary shaped like a credit card. Out goes the traditional (but untidy) string of beads; in comes the card with embossed points, ready to lie snugly in your wallet between the Gold Amex and driving licence.

The card comes in various forms: plastic for 'those who can afford to pay the least', brass or copper-embossed for middle-income earners (pictured) and a de luxe version in gold, studded with diamonds. The jewellers say that it 'will enable people to say their Hail Marys and Paternosters in the middle of a frantic world'.

According to The Times of London, the card is said to have the approval of the Vatican. Other sources close to the Primate claim he is so taken by the device that he won't leave Rome without it.