The world’s first logo-recognition app will turn an Android or Apple phone into a digital fundraising tool. Creators of the SnapDonate app say that when it is pointed at a charity logo it will instantly recognise which one it is. And, as people carry fewer coins or notes, charities hope it will help fill the black hole in fundraising.
A new app has launched that lets cashless Brits use their mobile phones to snap photos of charity logos to make donations. Brits give around £1.6 billion in cash to good causes each year, but charities could miss out on a „chunk” of this as people increasingly leave home without notes and coins in their wallets, according to the Charities Aid Foundation and the Payments Council.
The SnapDonate Android and iOS app aims to tackle this „cash timebomb” by making it easy for people to make spontaneous donations. The app uses a „magic lens” to recognise charity logos – users just snap the image and pick how much to give. The system currently recognises dozens of logos, including those belonging to Age UK and Save the Children, but users can donate to around 13,000 charities by searching within the app. There is no fee and donations are handled by JustGiving.
Nick Georgiadis, head, direct giving, Cancer Research UK, says to finextra.com: “In a society that is increasingly moving away from cash as a way of conducting payments, it’s important charities make use of innovative ways for supporters to donate. Any technology solution that makes charity giving easier and straightforward is welcomed.”
Donations on the app will all be sent via fundraising platform JustGiving.The app deducts no fees, shows no ads, and stores no personal information about donors. JustGiving charges its standard handling fee.
Recent research has shown that giving through mobile phones is growing in popularity, with a 22% increase in people saying they prefer to give via text message than through any other method. Last month the UK’s leading mobile payment innovation, Zapp, announced that it is working with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and Oxfam Great Britain (Oxfam) to introduce new ways for supporters to donate using their mobile phones. Zapp allows donors to give via their banking application on their phone, meaning that the money will come directly from users’ bank accounts, rather than phone bills.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
