Poppy appeal goes contactless to beat cash donation crisis

THE Royal British Legion’s annual poppy appeal has gone contactless and will install tap-and-go payments at terminals around the UK.

It comes as a survey found nearly half of charity bucket donors are giving £14 a year less to good causes because they are no longer carrying coins and notes.

However, unlike cash donations, which have no lower limit, the minimum donation for a contactless poppy will be £2. This is twice the size of a typical £1 cash donation.

The Royal British Legion is piloting the scheme, which will launch next week, with 200 mobile donation terminals across the UK.

The terminals, featuring the familiar poppy design, will have three preset payment levels of £2, £3 and £5, enabling donors to quickly and securely make their donation for the traditional poppy or for a lapel pin.

The contactless terminals will be used alongside traditional cash collecting tins to make it as easy as possible for the public to donate for a poppy.

The Church of England is also trialing contactless technology for collections and could roll it out more widely if it proves a success.

Nearly two out of five adults admit they now give less to street collectors as they do not carry as much cash, new research from Consumer Intelligence, the market research agency, shows.

On average they said they now give £14 less over the course of a year, with reductions ranging between £1 and £50.