Pennies signs up new retail partners to benefit charities
Pennies, the electronic charity box, has signed up a range of new retail partners following growth of over 100% in its second year of operation.
At an event attended by Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd MP, chairman of the British Retail Consortium and chief executive of Kingfisher, Ian Cheshire and TV presenter Fiona Phillips, the charity said it was on track to reach the milestone of £1 million worth of donations by the end of the year.
New retail partners include DFS, Evans Cycles, Gieves & Hawkes, The Fragrance Shop and Adnams Cellar & Kitchen Stores. In addition, a number of existing partnerships have expanded including Domino’s Pizza which has seen an 18% increase in donations following the launch of Pennies mobile app.
The charity, which enables gives shoppers the option to donate a few pence to charity when they buy goods with their debit or credit card, said that technology had been critical to the success of the scheme. Pennies will be working with a range of new partners in 2013, including Barclaycard, Sage Pay, VeriFone, Servebase, Intershop and Iridium Corporation, to make it easier for merchants to adopt Pennies across different channels.
Alison Hutchinson, CEO of The Pennies Foundation, said: “It has been inspiring to see how quickly millions of UK consumers have chosen to donate their electronic pennies, adding together to make a significant difference to so many UK charities. We’ve always known that the British public is generous and thanks to the many partners announcing their support for the Pennies movement today there will be even more opportunities to join in.”
Ian Cheshire added: “Pennies has quickly proven to be a big success with consumers. Retailers have a unique role to play with their access to millions of consumers. Now is the time for the Retail Industry to get behind the Pennies movement.”
The scheme now benefits over 50 charities including McMillan Cancer Support, the NSPCC and the Alzheimer’s Society.
