Officials of the ATM Industry Association Europe said they welcome a British government proposal that would enable United Kingdom cardholders to make charitable donations through ATMs.
"With last year's announcement by the UK Payments Council to press ahead with its plan to phase out cheques [checks], we believe that the ATM channel can become one of the viable alternatives for payments to charities," said Flora Hamilton, executive director of the non-profit trade association, which is based in London.
Francis Maude, a British cabinet member, in December proposed allowing cardholders to make charitable donations through the U.K.'s network of ATMs in an effort to boost giving. Maude included the proposal in a "Green Paper." A Green paper contains issues the government plans to address.
Hamilton noted that donating to charity via an ATM is not new. "There have been campaigns in the past where some of the U.K. banks have enabled their customers to donate to big fund-raising appeals on their ATMs," Hamilton said.
Ron Delnevo, chairman of ATMIA Europe, called the proposal a sound idea, but he wants cardholders who use local ATMs to have the option of donating to local charities.
Delnevo, who is managing director of Bank Machine Ltd, said he would will work with LINK, the U.K. ATM organization, to encourage members to support the proposal. "We hope it paves the way to add other interesting function options to ATMs in the future," Delnevo said.
