This has led to fewer donations for long time charities such as The Salvation Army which previously relied on this as a main source of donations. But if you have no coins or cash it may no longer be a problem. In the Dallas area The Salvation Army is doing a pilot test using a dozen of their famous red kettles which are now equipped with credit card readers. Simply swipe your card instead.

The transactions will be wireless and encrypted to protect cardholders. The bad thing is that The Salvation Army will have to pay a 25 cent fee plus 2.9% for each transaction. Hopefully if the pilot program is a success and leads to wider use they will be able to negotiate the processing fees to a lower amount, or ideally zero, since they are a charity.