bPay contactless wearables enable automatic donations to UK charities

Barclaycard charity donations
GOOD DEAL: UK consumers can give small change from contactless payments to charity

A new range of wearable devices equipped with Barclaycard’s bPay contactless technology will enable UK consumers to automatically donate the small change from any contactless payment they make using the device to charities of their choice.

Barclaycard has teamed up with Donate The Change to introduce the service which will be made available through a range of devices including bracelets and key rings.

“Developed by Donate The Change and powered by Barclaycard’s bPay contactless chips, the wearables can be used to make touch and go payments for £30 (US$39) and under without fumbling for cash or entering a PIN,” Barclaycard says. “When a purchase is made, it triggers an automatic donation to the wearer’s chosen charity.

“Individual donation rules — including monthly donation caps — can be changed online or through the Donate The Change app which can also be used to remotely shut down the chip and device if it is lost or stolen.

“Initially, the wearables will be available with Donate The Change branding — however, by autumn, charities will be able to create their own variations, allowing donors to illustrate their affinity to their chosen causes.”

User options

“There will be two options that the user can select,” Barclaycard told NFC World. “Either to ‘round up’ each purchase amount to the nearest full pound, or for a fixed amount to be donated for every payment made. The former would see, for example, a £3.60 transaction debited for £4 with 40p going to the charity. The latter would be the same amount donated regardless of the purchase amount.”

The move follows research conducted by Barclaycard that revealed how UK charities could be missing out on up to £82m (US$106m) by not accepting contactless donations. The new range of wearables will be added to Barclaycard’s existing line up of bPay devices.

“This partnership creates a new era in charity fundraising by linking fintech and trends in changing consumer behaviour to enhance the donor experience whilst enabling charities to increase their fundraising revenue streams and build closer relationships with donors,” says Mike Dunn, CEO of Donate the Change.

“This partnership provides a really neat way of helping donors give to their chosen charitable cause on a more regular basis, whilst proudly showing their support with the branded wearables,” adds Tami Hargreaves, commercial director of digital consumer payments at Barclaycard.

“Charities meanwhile benefit from the contactless payment revolution as the donors go about their normal day, buying things using a choice of contactless payment wearables and donating to a cause close to their hearts.”

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