ING To Roll Out Contactless Charity Donation Boxes

Dutch bank ING is gearing up to roll out charity donation boxes that are contactless.

According to a report, the charity donation boxes were developed with Whydonate in ING’s innovation label, ICEC. The report noted the contactless charity donation boxes, which accept tap-and-pay donations from mobile phones that have NFC, took only 10 days to create. ING plans to roll out a pilot of the charity donation boxes sometime this year in the Netherlands, noted the report.

ING said, according to the report, the idea was due to a realization that many consumers don’t carry cash, which could hurt donations. ING pointed to a study by the bank’s Economics Bureau, which revealed that 52 percent of consumers don’t keep notes in their home. ING is betting the boxes will be great for charities looking to raise funds by going door to door. Without cash, that practice has been hurt over the course of the past few years.

This isn’t the first time ING has innovated when it comes to payment methods. In September, ING said it will transform social media sites, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, into payment request channels for customers who use its mobile app. With the app, users can generate a link that can be shared on social media apps, as well as via SMS and email. The recipients get the payment request, as well as a one-click link that takes them to online payment service iDeal. Money that is transferred over iDeal is credited automatically to the account of the customer. A similar service was launched by ABN Amro over WhatsApp earlier in the summer.