Ingenico Group, the global leader in seamless payment, has today confirmed that it has successfully supported the NSPCC in raising an incredible £15k at The Card and Payments Awards (TCPA), the premier awards evening for the UK and Irish card and payments industry on the 1^st of February.

For the past 8 years, Ingenico has supported the event by providing payment solutions to help raise money for charity and this year, it included the innovative Connected Screen.

The chosen charity for 2018, NSPCC, specialises in child protection and is dedicated to the fight for every childhood and Ingenico’s cashless payment solutions raised a stunning £14,785 for the charity – up 51% on last year’s total.

The UK has seen an incredible rate of adoption in cashless payments and as a result of the British public carrying fewer coins, the country’s charities have been left to pay the price with a shortfall in contributions. Charity donations last year fell by more than £500m in comparison to 2015 with 37% of those who regularly donate admitting they have cut back in the past year, according to research from Consumer Intelligence.

Ingenico’s Connected Screen provides charities with the opportunity to help cope with this increasing problem by offering generous donators the chance to engage and give using the latest cashless technology. This was witnessed first hand at The Card and Payments Awards with guests more than happy to interact with Ingenico’s innovative payment screen, donating to the wonderful NSPCC cause in a variety of ways including, contactless cards, wristbands, watches, smartphones and even rings!

The 6ft screen has built-in, certified payment readers that enable users to safely tap the contactless hot-spot and donate the displayed amount per tap. The technology allows branded content to be loaded on to the interactive screen which dynamically responds to users with new content – in this instance a sincere message of thanks from a child who has benefitted from the donation and the great work of NSPCC.

Ingenico has now helped to raise nearly £85k for charities through its involvement with TCPA and with the increase in cashless payments and reduction in loose change in the UK, innovative solutions like the connected screen could be just what charities need.

Ian Benn, Managing Director for Ingenico Northern Europe, said: “We started our association with The Cards and Payments Awards to make it as easy as possible for all the guests to give to the chosen charities. Eight years on and more than £85k raised through our payment solutions, we are delighted to have been able to bring further innovation through our Connected Screen enabling this year’s guests to interact and engage with NSPCC.”

Ben Swart, Head of New Partnerships at NSPCC, said: “We are very grateful to Ingenico for deploying their new Connected Screen to encourage and enable attendees at the Card and Payments Awards to donate to such an important cause. The money raised will help us in our quest to prevent child abuse and neglect in the UK and to help those who have suffered from what can be a deeply traumatic and damaging experience.”

Michael Harty, Founder and Managing Director at The Card & Payments Awards added:“We are delighted that Ingenico chose The Card & Payments Awards to unveil their connected screen to the UK market.  Ingenico has been our event payments partner and silver sponsor for a number of years and continue to push the boundaries in payments solutions; exactly the ethos that TCPA pursues.”