Tap and pray: Paris church introduces contactless contributions — France 24 — “On Sunday, the Saint-François de Molitor church in Paris’s 16th arrondissement launched an innovative new technology to transform the old-fashioned wicker basket into a contactless payment terminal… If the scheme is successful, it will be rolled out into more churches around Paris, said Christophe Rousselot, director of financial development in the Paris diocese.”
Charity
KFC installs contactless donation stations across New Zealand
Tap to donate units in KFC support Surf Life Saving — SLSNZ — “The units will be placed at 40 selected KFC restaurants to enable customers to use their credit card and pay wave technology to make a quick and easy donation to Surf Life Saving New Zealand… The Donation Point Tap back end system feeds into the existing New Zealand Eftpos network, feeding funds straight to Surf Life Saving New Zealand’s bank account overnight, eliminating cash collection costs or risk of coin box theft.”
Amazon to accept payments by voice on Alexa devices
Amazon Alexa skills to accept payments — VentureBeat — “Developers and businesses making skills for Amazon’s Alexa will soon be able to accept Amazon Pay for purchases directly within voice apps from the Alexa Skills Store… Initial skills categories to accept Amazon Pay include donations, restaurants, and event ticketing.”
Mastercard promotes contactless card usage with free school meal donations
Every pay as you go journey in London made using a Mastercard will feed a child this October — Mastercard — “Touch in and out with your Mastercard on London’s transport network and we’ll provide a meal for one of the world’s hungriest children… For three weeks Mastercard will donate one school meal for every pay-as-you-go journey made on Transport for London (TfL) and National Rail Services in London using a contactless Mastercard, or a Mastercard loaded into Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay… Each school meal costs just 20p, but the benefits last a lifetime.”
Hospital charity raises funds via NFC stickers
Norwich hospital charity introduces cashless donations for visitors — UK Fundraising — “Visitors to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals are now able to make donations to the NHS Trust charity using a variety of tap-to-donate tools ranging from vinyl stickers and ‘smart’ posters… The Trust is also using the technology to turn (charity-funded) wheelchairs into instant donation points.”
ING doubles charity donations with contactless collection box
No spare change? No excuse! — ING — “From March to July, a three-person team ran a pilot in the Netherlands for the box with 19 charity organisations… Not only was the overall process much quicker, the donor’s behaviour changed. The average donation doubled compared to the traditional cash-based collecting, from €1.50 (US$1.79) to €3.20 (US$3.82).”
Dogs aim to take Blue Cross canal walk donations
Dogs aim to take Blue Cross canal walk donations — Wiltshire Times — “Two specially-trained dogs are to take donations on a Blue Cross sponsored canal walk being held over the August bank holiday weekend. Nine-year-old black Labrador Pernod, and her four-year-old daughter, Doris, a yellow Labrador, will accept the contactless payments using a special vest.”
Apple Pay purchases trigger donations to US national parks
Apple is donating a dollar to the National Park Foundation for every purchase made with Apple Pay at any Apple Store across the US, on the company’s website or through the Apple Store app until July 15 in support of the country’s national parks... More
English churches to trial contactless donations this summer ahead of wider roll out
Churchgoers in England will begin trialling contactless donations in 40 churches across the country this summer, as the Church of England announces plans to roll out contactless handheld terminals to process card payments for donations as a replacement for loose change... More
Bristol gets contactless donation points to help the homeless
Contactless donation points have been set up across the UK city of Bristol to let passersby donate £2 (US$2.57) to the Safer off the Streets (SOS) initiative by tapping their contactless card against the contactless terminals housed inside the units. More
Hyundai’s Contactless Car launches at London’s King’s Cross station
Double Olympic champion and professional boxer Nicola Adams and TV presenter Jake Humphrey have unveiled car manufacturer Hyundai’s Contactless Car at London’s King’s Cross station, allowing passersby to donate to the Stand Up To Cancer charity with a tap of their contactless card or NFC mobile phone. More
Carrefour and BNP Paribas unveil “universal” mobile payments and loyalty service
Supermarket giant Carrefour and French bank BNP Paribas have unveiled a new QR code-based mobile payment platform that will let customers make in-store, online and peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payments as well as store loyalty cards, coupons and special offers on their mobile device. More
Hyundai builds car with contactless payments for Stand Up To Cancer donations
UK consumers will soon be able to make contactless donations to the Stand Up To Cancer charity by tapping their contactless card or NFC mobile phone against five payment points built into a Contactless Car designed by Hyundai Motor UK using a zero-emission Ioniq electronic vehicle. More
bPay contactless wearables enable automatic donations to UK charities
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. More
Apple marks Earth Day with Apple Pay donations
Apple is celebrating Earth Day by donating US$1 to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) whenever a customer makes a purchase in an Apple store using Apple Pay... More
Smart Benches offer Londoners chance to make contactless charity donations
Ten Smart Benches have been installed across London to enable passersby to donate £2 (US$3) to Cancer Research UK with a tap of their contactless debit or credit card. The Smart Bench network is currently being piloted in two boroughs in the city, with a further 90 benches to be permanently rolled out later this year. More
Contactless tins triple charity donations
The average size of donations made to a UK charity using contactless collection tins was more than three times larger than the average cash donation, The Telegraph reports... More
Homeless people trial contactless payments jacket to receive donations
Homeless people in the Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam have been testing a jacket equipped with a contactless terminal to enable passersby to tap their contactless cards and make a €1 (US$1.04) donation, which can then be redeemed through official homeless shelters... More
More US firms offer Apple Pay
US airline United Airlines, domain name provider GoDaddy and donation platform Causemo are among the latest businesses offering Apple Pay, Apple Insider reports... More
Alzheimer’s Research UK promotes Christmas ad through Proxama’s beacon network
PARTNER NEWS: Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) is using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons on digital payment solutions provider Proxama’s beacon network to promote its Santa Forgot Christmas campaign... More