UK’s ParentPay & Student FinTech Team Up For Charity

An electronic payments platform developed for U.K. parents of school-aged children announced yesterday (Jan. 24) that it will be partnering up with a new FinTech charity initiative.

The payments platform, called ParentPay, is an online payment system that facilitates digital payment for school meals, trips and activities, uniforms, lessons and any other fees that may arise.

ParentPay will be joining forces with iRoundUp, a digital charity reportedly created by students at Skinners’ Academy as part of a national business competition, said Finextra, that rounds up payments and collects the excess as donations.

Yesterday, iRoundUp was rolled out to the entirety of ParentPay’s approximately 2 million users. So far, over £12,000 has reportedly been raised.

Clint Wilson, CEO of ParentPay, was quoted as saying: “IRoundUp is an excellent concept: The idea of students donating spare change to charities via ParentPay is simple but ingenious. Designed for an increasingly cashless society, iRoundUp is a digital charity box allowing students and their families to donate small amounts that can make a big difference to other people’s lives. We love the fact that our supporting five students from Skinners’ Academy in developing their skills has allowed them to go on to support thousands more young people, with the money raised via iRoundUp.”

The first charity to be selected for donation by the program was Wallace and Gromit’s Children’s Charity, a national charity that raises funds to support U.K. children in hospitals and hospices.

Helen Haskell, corporate partnerships manager at Wallace and Gromit’s Children’s Charity, was quoted as saying: “We are delighted to be chosen by ParentPay as the first charity to benefit from the funds raised by the iRoundUp scheme. The students at Skinners’ Academy should be thrilled with their achievement. The money raised will benefit children in hospitals and hospices, providing life-saving medical equipment, free family accommodation and a range of arts, music and play therapy programs [that] will make a huge difference.”