Pennies transforming high street giving, as new brands join movement

Fintech charity Pennies has welcomed Dixons Carphone, Boots Opticians, Hobbycraft, Virgin Holidays and MRH GB limited to its digital customer giving movement – the latter giving many thousands of drivers the opportunity to donate when using their convenience stores and buying fuel across the UK.

Boots Opticians – Pennies transforming high street givingIn 2011, Pennies’ digital charity box disrupted digital consumer giving by offering a one-click option to donate to a retailer’s nominated charity when paying by card, working across sectors and channels – in-store, online or in app.

The British public now donates to charity every 3 seconds through Pennies, in over 60 participating retailers, including Domino’s Pizza, Topps Tiles, ASK Italian, Evans Cycles, Rontec and The Entertainer.

Pennies offers customers the chance to round-up or top-up small change – anonymously – and is a response to a public increasingly going cashless, and the disappearance of traditional collection tins.

This month, May 2017, Pennies celebrates reaching a milestone of 40 million public donations.

Alison Hutchinson CBE, CEO of Pennies said:

“In the UK we like the opportunity to easily give a little as part of our everyday lives. And with around a third of us leaving the house with no cash, just cards these days, Pennies makes it possible – and simple – to give our digital small change a big purpose at the click or press of a button and because we don’t keep personal data there is a guarantee of no charity follow up.

“We are thrilled the UK public are getting behind this way of donating. And we’re excited by the diversity and breadth of partners coming on board, in retail, hospitality, and the service sector.”

Since its launch, Pennies has helped raise over £9million for UK charities, with consumers donating in-store, online and in apps 40 million times in the last 6 and a half years.

Pennies estimates that if all of the UK’s card holders donated just 30p a month, over £175million a year could be raised for the UK charity sector.

Pennies will be exhibiting on Stand 1700, at the Retail Business Technology Exhibition 2017 at Olympia, London, from May 8th to 9th. They will be presenting on Day 2 of the event on Feel good giving and the customer experience alongside partner Hobbycraft in the Payments Theatre.

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Notes to Editors
For more information, please contact Rob Dyson, Head of Marketing and Communications at Pennies on 07813 091 970 / rob.dyson@pennies.org.uk.

About Pennies
Pennies is the digital upgrade of the traditional charity box, enabling customers to donate a few pence to charity at the point of sale when paying by card; whether in-store, online or in-app.

Current members of the Pennies family include Domino’s Pizza, Topps Tiles, The Entertainer, Screwfix, Notcutts and The Fragrance Shop; as well as a growing number of partners in the service industry.

Pennies’ micro-donations are data-free, quick, and a choice every time. The retailer chooses the charity that its customers can support. No data is collected, and there is no follow up; it really is about dropping a few pence in a charity box – but via a debit or credit card.

Payment technology partners
Pennies works hand in hand with payments technology providers, a vital cog in the Pennies movement, in order to unlock the potential for thousands of customers to donate via their retail clients. The retailers mentioned in the release body above were made ‘Pennies ready’ with the support of the following:

MRH GB Limited – HTEC and FIS
Hobbycraft – K3 Retail and Verifone
Dixons Carphone – Verifone
Boots Opticians – Worldpay