The Low-Down On Charity Credit Cards

When choosing which credit cards to carry, consumers are faced with a vast array of options. One of the types of credit cards on offer are charity credit cards.

Charity credit cards are cards that allow you to automatically donate to charity every time money is spent. These represent a convenient way to send money to your favourite charity without you having to make any special arrangements or specific monetary donations.

Charity credit cards typically work on a reciprocal agreement with the card issuers. For each of the charity credit cards opened, the issuer will donate a lump sum to the charity in question. For instance, Halifax plc donates £50 to Cancer Research UK every time a new Cancer Research UK credit card account is opened.

Support from the issuer to the charity is then ongoing. How much the charity receives from the issuer though is dependent upon how much users spend on their card.

Ongoing support through credit card spending

For every £100 spent on charity credit cards, the issuer typically donates an additional £0.25p to the charity on behalf of the consumer. This figure varies, but on the whole it is the benchmark figure for most cards.

Obviously, if you're not a big spender on any charity credit cards that you hold, the charity is unlikely to benefit significantly. However, even if you spend £1000 per month, the donation the charities receive really can make a difference.

At £1000 per month the company will make a donation of £2.50 per month to the charity. That's enough to supply a family in Sudan with a cooking pot in which they can also transport water.

If £1000 is too much to spend on charity credit cards each month, how about a spending level of just £400 per month on your charity credit cards? £400 per month is enough to keep a child in Ethiopia on the GOAL program in food for a whole week! Given that you can dump most of your monthly household expenditure onto credit cards these days, it really could not be easier to make a difference.

Types of charity credit cards

All major charities and many smaller charities now have tie ups with card companies to provide charity credit cards. For a number of charities, these actually form a core part of their fundraising program. Here are just some of the charities in the UK that now offer some…

Animal Aid
Asthma UK
Blue Cross
British Red Cross
Cancer Research UK
Comic Relief
Cystic Fibrosis Trust
Earthwatch
Macmillan Cancer Relief
Marie Curie
NSPCC

Are charity credit cards expensive?

Charity credit cards are not low rate cards by any stretch of the imagination. They are however no more costly to run than many standard offers. Of course, if you pay your balance off every month charity credit cards will cost you next to nothing. However, balances carried forward are subject to interest charges. Typical APRs are between 15% - 20%.