Cards and Charities
This section of the web site is to explain the variety and range of ways in which the cards industry works with charities, and supports the donations process.
- Using your cards to donate
- Charitable affinity cards
- Charitable appeals
- Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
Using your cards to donate
Cardholders are increasingly choosing to make charitable donations using cards, and card payments have helped create a new infrastructure to make it possible for you to make donations to charities online - an area which will continue to grow to the benefit of all.
The Tsunami appeal in December 2004 may have been a ‘tipping point’ in relation to online donations, as following the passing of this very high-profile appeal, the average monthly volumes and values donated continued at higher levels than beforehand. An estimated £100 million of the charitable donations made in January 2005 in response to the Tsunami disaster were made using debit or credit cards. This represented a jump of 207 per cent on donations made by card in January 2004.
Charitable affinity cards
Charitable affinity cards are cards branded in a charity’s name, and issued by a credit card company that makes specific donations to the charity. Some twenty years on from the first appearance of affinity cards, there are now thousands of cards to choose from, and their impact on charity fundraising has been substantial. The small amounts generated by each card add up to huge amounts for the charities involved.
Affinity cards are an easy way for you to contribute to a charity without any extra personal cost, and are issued on the basis that the card issuer makes a donation to a particular organisation. However some providers issue cards on behalf of a group of charities, and allow cardholders to nominate a preferred beneficiary. A typical affinity credit card works by the issuer agreeing to donate a specified amount when the credit card account is first set up or when the card is first used, thereafter making a specified payment for each time the credit card is used or a purchase over a certain figure, e.g. £100 is made.
While charities represent a large number of affinity cards, many other organisations also have linked credit card products. Many football clubs, universities, political parties and membership societies provide affinity cards, offering an additional way for members to support their chosen organisation.
Charitable appeals
For many years the UK payments industry has waived fees for appeals that are designated as major international emergencies by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), such as the Asian earthquake in 2005, and the tsunami in 2004, or are cross-charity intensive fundraising events like Red Nose Day or Children in Need. This policy ensures that in each case the amount donated by the cardholder would be the amount received by the charity.
In addition, individual banks and card companies make donations or come to special arrangements for their own chosen charities. Card issuers may offer affinity cards, and acquiring banks often offer beneficial rates to charities for their overall services (though individually they do not have the discretion to waive the interchange fee).
Banks themselves are among the top donors to good causes. According to The Guide to UK Company Giving 2005 (compiled by the Directory of Social Change) the top five UK community contributors were banks, with a total of £144.1 million contributed between them – more than double the amount provided by the remaining 20 of the top 25 contributors. The top four UK charitable donors were also banks, with a total of £7.7 million – again more than double that donated by the rest of the top 25.
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
The Data Protection (Processing of Sensitive Data) Order 2006, is to amend the Data Protection Act 1998 to allow card issuers to receive police data, so that they can withdraw cards where their terms and conditions have been broken. The proposed changes give card issuers the information needed to fully enforce terms and conditions of cards enabling them to cancel the cards of online paedophiles.
Calls for this change in the law have been led by APACS, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), and childrens' charities, working closely with the Department of Constitutional Affairs. They will ensure that where paedophiles have used credit or debit cards to access child abuse images online, card providers have the information they need to terminate their contract with the customer and take away the card used.
APACS is proud to support the Light a Million Candles campaign, whose aim is to eradicate the commercial viability of online child abuse. Please light your candle at lightamillioncandles.com or send an email of support to light@lightamillioncandles.com. This petition will be used to encourage governments, politicians, financial institutions, payment organisations, Internet service providers, technology companies and law enforcement agencies to eradicate the commercial viability of online child abuse.
