Blue Cross, in partnership with PayPal, have increased its number of contactless payment devices fitted to dogs to 20 in time for the dog show Crufts.
Across the UK the new team of ‘Tap Dogs’ will be taking £2 donations events from today, coinciding with the start of Crufts. Donors can pat and tap’ the dog to make a £2 donation using their contactless payment card or smart device (smartphone or watch) – or speak to its Blue Cross volunteer if they’d like to give a different amount.
The prototype coats were first trialled in 2016. PayPal offered its support for the scheme and funded a range of new contactless dog coats and donated PayPal Here card readers for each of the coats.
Julia McKechnie-Burke, director of fundraising, marketing and communications at Blue Cross, said: “Tap Dogs were created to raise awareness of our work helping thousands of pets every year. We were limited in the capacity of Tap Dogs as a fundraising tool with our prototype coats but now, thanks to PayPal, we are able to expand the scheme and have Tap Dogs at even more events.
“We are in an increasingly cashless society and need to be versatile in the ways people can donate to us. We love that dogs are able to directly help us raise funds as pets are at the heart of everything we do. We are grateful for PayPal’s support and look forward to exploring further expansion of this scheme and other initiatives.”
The Tap Dog technology consists of PayPal’s contactless card reader sitting in a pocket of the Tap Dog’s coat linked to the PayPal Here smartphone app via Bluetooth. The card reader accepts contactless payments by card or smart device phone or watch. The app is operated by a Blue Cross volunteer via a smartphone.
Bas Gevaert, UK director of PayPal, said, “PayPal is proud to support this new initiative which allows people to easily donate to Blue Cross using contactless cards. It goes without saying that fewer people carry cash on them now, so this new way to make donations with a card or smart phone really highlights how forward thinking Blue Cross are as a charity.
“It’s such a fun and innovative way, not only for people to donate to a charity but actually get to engage with what the charity does as well. It’s nice to think that rescue dogs are helping to raise money for other rescue animals.”
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