Home
Charity credit cards mean you can donate whilst you spend. These are credit cards that automatically give to good causes when we use them. But as our own queen of shops Lucy Siegle has been finding out - there's a catch. Lucy has discovered that the usual donation is just 0.25% of what you spend. That means if you spend £100 they donate just 25p to charity. In fact to get £100 donated to charity you have to spend a staggering £40,000.
The rates do vary, the most generous rate Lucy found was for Aids in Africa where you'd only have to spend £10,000 to get a £100 donation.
There is a way your chosen charity could get a lot more. Instead of going for a charity credit card you could go for a cashback card which means you get a percentage of whatever you spend, but you must be prepared to pay it off in full at the end of every month, otherwise you might find that the interest outweighs the cashback. Most generous gives you £120 for the first year from the same £500, you could then donate that to charity. And don't forget Gift Aid, if you tick the right box on a donation form the charity can then collect anther 28% from the government.
Do you have a charity credit card? Will you continue to use it? Or do you prefer to give to charity in other ways?
Comments
I never voted for John BUT he is a gentleman. What a U turn those judges have made! They were continually annoyed when John was voted back in as if he had any control over that. I cannot believe James made the comment that John had resigned from the show to make himself the centre of attention, RUBBISH James!! John was invited to participate, the bosses must be laughing all the way to the bank.
Complain about this comment
erm, anneblogg?
Re Charity Credit Cards - why not just pick the card that is best for YOU and then give to charity , by standing order if you want a steady flow to them?
Complain about this comment
Yeah some of these schemes are better than others - the mobile phone top up thing is a good one, it's for Children in Need and the banks and phone companies donate 5p each time someone tops up their mobile at a cash machine. They are doing it all through November and it doesn't cost you anything out of your credit - I read that they have raised over £75,000 doing it!
www.top-up-pudsey.co.uk
Complain about this comment
Some people should wake up.
Do they really think that a credit card provider is going to generously give away a significant proportion of their profits to charity?
Why on earth should they?
What's in it for them?
If you want to give to charity, give to charity - it's not as if it's difficult!...or do folk maybe think that they'd like to, but they'd rather the big friendly credit company did it for them, and it won't cost them anything?
Are these the same people who think that store "loyalty" cards are a great moneysaver?
Complain about this comment
I have always been sceptical of these cards, and this offer just seems too good to be true:
http://www.halifaxafc.co.uk/page/CommercialNewsDetail/0,,10437~1459043,00.html
Sort of a link between the heating grant scams and charity cards; worth a look Dom?
Complain about this comment
I have a Charity Credit Card and while the card rates are not that great, they do donate to my charity. I also give straight to the charity. I think if you are looking to save money then get a 0% balance transfer card, but if you are looking to help your charity then get a charity credit card or make a donation.
This site also makes a donation to charity when you sign up; it is also supported by a number of charities. http://www.pricebyprice.com
Complain about this comment
I Use a charity credit card and am sceptical about whether the charity gets it but I keep hearing from the charity that they do and would feel uncomfortable not using it just in case. I think a good way to raise money for charity is using the web search engine Everyclick.com which gives money to your chosen charity or all supported charities every time you search the web or shop using Everclick.com
Complain about this comment
I also own several charity credit cards and I can't say that the rates are especially good if you compare to other cards on the market. However, the great thing is that by using these cards I know that I am donating to several charities that I want to support. However, sometimes I am actually wondering how much of the rates are actually going to welfare...
Complain about this comment
I try to stay away from charity credit cards l charity credit cards and I would go with the advice of the person above who suggests that it would be best to get a normal low rate credit card and just set up a direct debit to a charity.
I don't think that they are bad in any way, but I think there are better ways of helping charities that involve less middlemen and less profits for banks.
Complain about this comment
I have a charity credit card, OK the level of donation isn't that great, but isn't it a case of 'every little helps?'
Give as much to charity as you like, but if you're going to use a credit card anyway why not use one that makes a difference even if it's only a small one.
Complain about this comment
View these comments in RSS