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Credit card charity donations break £1bn barrier

People in the UK donated just over £1 billion to charity on their plastic cards, up from £842 million in 2006. APACS, the UK payments association, said it was the first time donations on plastic have breached the £1bn barrier.

By volume, this represents an increase of 23 per cent. The increase is comprised of 2.9 million more debit card and 1.3 million more credit card payments, proving that debit cards remain the popular option when donating.

The average value of a donation on a plastic card in 2007 was £44.75.

Affinity cards are another way in which consumers can contribute to charity, but without any extra personal cost, as the card issuer makes a donation to the particular cause linked to that card.

Typically, the issuer will donate when the account is first opened, or the card activated, thereafter making a payment depending on the card usage.

Last year £7.5bn was spent on the 4.8 million affinity cards in issue in the UK, which represents an 8 per cent increase from 2006. Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS said: "Wednesday's Budget announcement confirmed that charities will continue to reclaim gift aid at 22 per cent; however, a lower rate will be introduced in the future.

"We should aim to give as generously as we can. The first time many of us used our plastic to donate was on the back of the Asian tsunami appeal.

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