ING is to roll out contactless charity donation boxes co-developed by a startup operating out of its innovation lab.
The Dutch bank says the idea was borne out of the realisation that fewer consumers today have cash on hand, citing recent studies by its inhouse Economics Bureau which show that 52% of consumers don’t usually keep physical notes in their house.
The contactless collection box, which takes tap-and-pay donations from debit cards and NFC-equipped mobile phones, was co-developed with Whydonate in ING’s innovation lab ICEC in only 10 days. It will be introduced as a pilot in 2017 in the Netherlands.
The bank says the boxes should be a boon for charities wishing to embark on door-to-door fundraising, a method that has suffered a downturn in recent years.