Donations up over two years as nation puts charitable giving at the heart of its monthly spending

*Charitable giving increases across the board in 2006 as Asian Tsunami and Pakistan Earthquake shift consumer attitudes
*Average donations per card in January 2006 were up £5.68 for debit cards (16 per cent) and £6.73 for credit cards (8 per cent) compared to January 2004
*Latest figures show £67.8 million donated on plastic cards in June 2006

The Asian Tsunami disaster in December 2004 saw an overwhelming reaction from the British public - in the month that followed cardholders donated over £100 million on debit and credit cards. The Pakistan earthquake saw a similar spike in October 2005 as donations hit £45 million.

Since then the trend has continued with charitable donations continuing to be made at higher levels than ever on debit and credit cards. Figures released today (27 December 2006) by APACS, the UK payments association, see giving by plastic stronger than ever. Both the Tsunami and the earthquake in Pakistan saw an expected spike in giving - but outside of these busy periods average giving has been consistently up on 2004 levels as the nation factors charitable giving into their monthly expenditure.1

The figures have been released with the publication of APACS Cards & charities, a report which reveals the extent of the credit and debit card industrys contribution to charitable giving in the UK. The report shows that cardholders are flexing their plastic to make more and more donations directly to charity every year - latest figures show that in June 2006 we donated £67.8 million on plastic cards.

Where these donations are to help major humanitarian emergencies or for intensive national cross-charity events like Children in Need the card industry has taken the step of waiving interchange fees - part of the charge normally levied by banks on merchants for processing their card transactions - providing a substantial level of additional assistance.

Sandra Quinn, APACS director of communications said:

As we stand here at the second anniversary of the Asian Tsunami, its worth remembering how generously the British population responded - people reached deep into their pockets to help and in the following month donated more than £100 million on debit and credit cards.

As Cards & charities outlines, this is just one of the ways that we use our cards to help charities. Whatever the charity more and more of us turn to our plastic to show our support - whether thats through direct giving or by taking out an affinity card to give a little every time we spend.

Online, the card is king - helping charities like Justgiving.com to change the face of fundraising and the way we give. Card companies are themselves some of the biggest givers in the UK - donating directly to both charities and the community.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1.The table below shows average donations per card for debit and credit cards in January 2004 compared to January 2005 - the month that saw a £100 million spike in giving prompted by the Asian Tsunami - and January 2006:

	January 2004	January 2005	January 2006
Debit cards (Average £ donation per card)	£34.93	£49.24	£40.61
Debit cards (%-age increase in average donation value per card)	-	+ 41%	–18% (but up 16% on 2004)
Credit cards (Average £ donation per card)	£68.82	£77.55	£75.55
Credit cards (%-age increase in average donation value per card)	-	+13%	–3% (but up 8% on 2004)

2.For many years the UK payments industry has waived interchange fees for charitable appeals of a non-political nature which are designated as major international emergencies by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) such as the Pakistan Earthquake or Asian Tsunami, or are multi-charity appeals like Sports Relief or Children in Need. Appeals supported have included: Children in Need, Comic Relief, 2000 Mozambique Floods, 2001 Indian Earthquake, 2002 Goma Crisis, 2003 Liberia Crisis, 2004 Sudan Emergency and Asian Tsunami, and the 2005 Pakistan earthquake

3.The Guide to UK Company Giving 2005, compiled by the Directory of Social Change, lists banks as the top five UK community contributors, with a total of £144.1 million contributed between them - more than double the amount provided by the remaining 20 of the top 25 contributors. The top four UK charitable donors were also banks, with a total of £7.7 million - again more than double that donated by the rest.

4.Five million of the cards in our wallets - over eight per cent of all credit cards in issue in the UK - are affinity cards. These make a small donation to the charity of our choice every time we make a payment. Over £7 billion is spent every year on affinity cards covering every cause from English Heritage to UNICEF. 7% of all credit card spending takes place on affinity cards.

5.More than 31.6 million consumers have a credit card and 40.8 million have a debit card, and they are able to pay for goods and services virtually anywhere in the world without the need to carry cash.

For further information contact the APACS Cards Information Office:
T: 0870 420 3208 E: apacs@fourcommunications.com