GiveStar launches Tap on Phone to turn a smartphone into a contactless donations point

By Joy Dumasia

GiveStar, a start-up helping to bring emerging tech to the voluntary sector, has announced the launch of Tap-on-Phone, a first of its kind product that turns any smartphone into a contactless donations point for charity fundraising. Tap-on-Phone is a software-enabled contactless donations solution built into the free GiveStar app, designed to evolve how modern charities raise funds by turning any smartphone into a card reader. 

Charity employees and casual fundraisers download the app, log in, and can take donations from friends, family and colleagues. Donors tap their card against the fundraiser’s phone, and the donation is then processed directly to the charity and tracked in a backend dashboard. Contactless donations will also link to online giving pages, allowing fundraisers to see all their donations in one place.

This is the first time contactless technology has been enabled for charities of all sizes without purchasing expensive POS hardware. With no upfront cost and easy setup, Tap-on-Phone is a scalable solution for charities looking to empower their network of fundraisers and ultimately raise many more donations in our increasingly cashless society. 

The product is particularly beneficial for charities that cannot provide everyone in their large network of volunteers with a chip and pin or contactless card reader and individual fundraisers looking to take secure in-person donations. It is currently available on Android handsets and is set to open up to Apple devices in the coming months.

GiveStar’s Tap-on-Phone solution is powered by Phos, the FinTech behind the leading software-only Point of Sale system. This solution can turn any NFC-enabled smartphone into a POS terminal. Founded in 2018, Phos is committed to democratising card acceptance and payments in general. The product also has accreditation from VISA and Mastercard and security accreditation from SGS Brightsight, the world’s largest independent security evaluation lab.

Following a beta launch in 2021, GiveStar partnered with the British Red Cross at Twickenham earlier this month during England’s Six Nations clash with Ireland. The partnership saw the British Red Cross trial the Tap-on-Phone technology for the first time alongside cash donations to raise funds for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, with the charity raising +30% more via contactless donations than it otherwise would have.

Alex Coleridge, Co-Founder of GiveStar, said: “After an incredibly successful trial period, we are proud to be fully launching our Tap-on-Phone product to the wider voluntary sector. We’re pleased to see proof of the capabilities that this technology offers from our pilot at Twickenham alongside the British Red Cross, and we are now excited to watch how it helps other charities, accelerates their digital transformation, and ultimately raises more money for good causes than has been possible via cash donations and card machines alone.”

Brad Hyett, CEO of Phos, said: “We are proud to have partnered with GiveStar to bring this new game-changing Tap-on-Phone technology to the charity sector. As we accelerate towards a cashless society, it is important that we equip charities with quick, easy, and seamless ways of collecting donations. Using our leading SoftPoS solution, GiveStar will allow charities and fundraisers to turn any android phone into a payment terminal. This will eliminate the need for fundraisers to spend money on expensive physical terminals or deal in cash. We look forward to seeing the many benefits this will have on charities across the country.”