Australian Charities Adapt to Cashless Society With Arrival of Apple Pay

The charity sector needs to adapt to a world without cash, according to the CEO of Cancer Council Australia, which is set to be one of the first Australian charities to use Apple Pay.

ANZ announced on Tuesday that Donate with Apple Pay would be available on its Shout For Good fundraising platform, providing more than 60 of its aligned charities with an “easy and secure way to offer digital payments”.

Apple Pay allows Australians to donate to charities through their mobile phone, or online, and eliminates the need to enter billing and contact information, create an account or fill out long forms to check out.

Cancer Council Australia will be one of the first charities to use the digital wallet when it stages its Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea fundraising event on Thursday.

Cancer Council Australia CEO Professor Sanchia Aranda told Pro Bono News they were “thrilled” to be using the new digital giving mode, which would “provide another easy option for our supporters to donate”.

“In our increasingly cashless society, offering options to support our work through digital payments is important,” Aranda said.

“Innovative new solutions like Apple Pay make it easy for people to donate, helping to fund our vital work across cancer prevention, support, advocacy and research.”

She said digital giving played a crucial role in the charity’s fundraising strategy.

“Cancer Council recognises the need to ensure our fundraising strategy is keeping pace with the latest technology and makes donating as simple and easy as possible,” Aranda said.

“We also acknowledge the need to adapt our fundraising events to suit the changing payment preferences of Australian charity supporters.

“While a lot of Australians will continue to donate in person at community Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea events, Apple Pay provides an easy to use alternative for those who don’t have cash handy, can’t make it to a Biggest Morning Tea event, or simply find it easier to donate online.”

Charlie Carpinteri, the CEO of Shout For Good which will include Apple Pay functionality within its iOS App and integrated charity web-based products, said ANZ was excited to be the first fundraising platform to bring Apple Pay to Australian charities.

“We know more people want to donate without cash, so we are always looking at innovative payment solutions to help our charity partners succeed in the digital age,” Carpinteri said.

“ANZ is excited to be the first fundraising platform to bring Apple Pay to Australian charities, as it will enable them to seamlessly update their fundraising efforts and accept cashless donations on their website through the Safari browser on Apple’s Mac computers, iPhones and iPads.”

ANZ Bank is currently the only major bank offering Apple Pay to its customers.

Last month it was revealed that Apple had added two more banks – Suncorp and Citi – to the Apple Pay ranks.

However the rest of the Big Four (CommBank, NAB and Westpac) have yet to partner with Apple Pay as a result of disputes over access to the tech giant’s NFC, which would enable the banks to offer their own integrated digital wallets to iPhone customers.

Given Apple’s iPhone is the most popular phone in Australia, accounting for 35 per cent of all handset sales in the three months to June 2017, the digital wallet service is expected to be popular with consumers.

The latest announcement from ANZ follows a recent ANZ-commissioned survey of 2,000 Australians, which revealed 43 per cent of respondents would have donated to a charity but they did not have cash on them at the time and there was no ability to donate with contactless payments.  

The survey also showed online security and privacy were two concerns people had when making online donations, with 69 per cent of Australians worried about handing over their credit card details and 72 per cent worried about the privacy of their personal information.

Aranda said it would be interesting to see how the donation amounts that come through Apple Pay varied from those in cash.

“But we don’t have any expectations around this,” she said.

She said they hoped by making it easier for Australians to donate, they could “encourage more people to donate again”.

But she stressed that communication was vital for building a relationship with donors.

“Building a good relationship is not just about understanding your supporters, why they give and how they prefer to donate and adapting your fundraising strategy accordingly – it’s also about ensuring you are communicating with them effectively through a wide range of channels,” Aranda said.

“It’s particularly vital that donors understand how their money has made a difference, and new technology can actually assist with this.

“For instance, our online giving platform includes more information about the work Cancer Council does and how the money helps in our work across vital cancer research, support, advocacy and prevention. Many Australians don’t realise that we don’t receive ongoing government funding, and are therefore reliant on community support to make our work possible.”

She said charities could miss out if they only accepted cash donations.

“These days many Australians rely on digital payment when shopping, purchasing their morning coffee or topping up their train ticket,” she said.

“Having cash in your wallet is no longer necessary for many people – so we don’t expect Australians to be carrying around notes and loose change all the time.

“The charity sector as a whole needs to adapt, and Cancer Council is proud to be leading the way.”

More than 60 of ANZ’s Shout For Good aligned charities will also accept donations with Apple Pay, including Australian Red Cross, World Vision Australia, Save The Children Australia, The Smith Family and Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia.

More charities are expected to add Donate with Apple Pay support in coming months.