From contactless terminals to jackets with card readers, charities are being forced to adapt to keep up with Britain’s steady drop in cash usage

It’s 8am and Jonjo Doe is getting ready for his morning shift as a vendor of the Big Issue. Arriving in Cambridge three years ago after a brief spell in prison, he was homeless but eager to rebuild his life. Selling the Big Issue was one of the best ways to do that – and for a while the plan worked.

“I tend to ask everyone who walks by if they want to buy one,” says Doe. “Most people either come up with the excuse, ‘I haven’t got any change’ – which is easy [to respond to with] ‘I’ve got change for a note’ – but then there was, ‘Oh no, I’ve only got my card.’ And it just kept happening.”

Doe’s problem is familiar. Cash payments are in steep decline across Britain. In 2006, coins and notes were used for 62% of all transactions. Last year that fell to 40%, and by 2026 cash is expected to account for only 21% of purchases.

Seeing his business ebb away, Doe bought a contactless card reader. Sales have improved. Around a quarter of his customers now pay using contactless cards, he says.

“You’re selling the magazines quicker because you’ve got a card reader,” he adds. “It gives you more energy because you’ve got more time, because you finish earlier. But you don’t realise that at the time. You don’t realise it’s helping as much as you think.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A contactless payment machine used by TAP London. Photograph: Thomson Reuters Foundation / Cormac O'Brien

The cashless society is not just biting into the livelihoods of vendors like Doe, it fundamentally threatens the way many charities go about fundraising. Barclaycard maintains these charities will lose close to £80m in potential donations if they continue to rely on cash.

For those institutions supporting the homeless – working hard to cope with the rise in rough sleeping – the message is clear. Prevaricate, and charities might struggle to collect enough money to meet their needs. Adapt to the new vogue for cashless payments and they could tap into a vast wellspring of potential donations.

It was this latter prospect that intrigued the Rough Sleeping Partnership (RSP), an alliance of four charities tackling street homelessness in Bristol. “We needed to create a modern fundraising solution to keep the night shelters open,” says Kathryn Lacy, a regional funding manager for St Mungo’s.

RSP’s solution was to trial two contactless donation stations in the local shopping district. Come rain or shine, the terminals would receive donations of £2 and provide information about Streetlink, an outreach programme for rough sleepers.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kathryn Lacy, left, beside one of the Rough Sleeping Partnership’s contactless terminals

“From May to November [the terminals] raised, on average, £370 each a month,” explains Lacy. “That’s considerably more than a small cash collection tin would have been able to do.”

A third terminal has since been installed on the city’s waterfront. Lacy is already fielding inquiries on how to install new donation points from interested parties up and down the UK. “It’s new technology,” says Lacy, “but I think it’s within the grasp of all charities to be able to embrace it and see if it works for them.”

More and more homeless charities across Europe are finding ways of using contactless payments to directly support individuals. Last year, ad agency N=5 grabbed headlines with its trial of the Helping Heart contactless jacket, which allows passersby to donate €1 by tapping a card reader on the chest of the homeless person’s coat. The money can only be spent on products nominated in liaison with the individual’s local shelter. The agency hopes to begin a full-scale pilot as soon as possible.

In Oxford, the Greater Change platform will launch in April, allowing people to donate to homeless individuals using a mobile app. Again, the money can only be spent on “essentials that are part of that person’s personal development plan”. To some this may smack of social engineering – but for many charities it is increasingly clear that those who donate want to know their money is making a real difference.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Liam and Danny, vendors for TAP London, speak to a passerby in London. Photograph: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Cormac O'Brien

In Hackney, TAP London is experimenting with a model that provides employment for 10 vendors armed with contactless card readers who sell art cards for £3 apiece. “There’s a big block of my day now where I’m able to do something constructive,” says Liam, a TAP London vendor until last month. “I’m not just sat around in a library looking at a computer screen. I’m not just dossing around in a park. I’m actually doing something productive with my day, which makes me feel like I’ve got a bit of self-worth.” Two-thirds of the money they raise goes towards providing them with a living wage, while the rest is split between homeless charities. The latter sum will be boosted by a network of static collection boxes to be installed in pubs and shops around central London. So far, the organisation has raised over £7,000 in donations.

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So have charities found the answer? Ian McIntosh, a sociologist with the University of Stirling and co-author of one study into why people give to the street homeless, would prefer to hedge his bets.

His study found a wide range of reasons not to give – from simple apathy to outright hostility towards the act of begging. “I think the convenience factor of contactless could see a rise in giving,” he says, “but I do not think this will overcome the range of reasons people have for not giving.”

While agreeing there could be a small rise in donations with static contactless donation points, which avoid the awkward personal exchange that puts some people off from giving, McIntosh predicts increasing competition from other causes. “There is a lot of giving fatigue,” he warns.

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