Brilliant Innovation Lets London Subway Riders Donate Leftover Fares

Genius Innovation Lets London Subway Riders Donate Leftover Fares

About 100 million British pounds (more than $150 million) spent on Tube transport cards in London goes unused every year and one British designer has found a way to make sure those funds stop going out the window.

Entrepreneur Zander Whitehurst recently developed Common Pence, a platform that allows passengers to donate their leftover subway funds to charity. Users simply wave their smartphones, contact-less credit cards or Oyster cards (London's version of a MetroCard) at a Common Pence panel and 50 pence is automatically transferred to a central fund for that month’s designated charity, according to the group’s site.

Generous riders can then decide if they’d like to give the rest of their balance away, according to Wired.

The group is debuting with Prostate Cancer UK, an organization that invests in research and awareness campaigns, and offers its clients one-to-one support services and a helpline.

This program is Whitehurst’s first step in what he hopes can be scaled into other forms of "tactile generosity," he told Wired.

Whitehurst also sees his innovation as a way to encourage extemporaneous donations without having to nag supporters to get involved.

"We believe in spontaneous giving," the site’s mission reads. "Instead of signing up for a daily, monthly or yearly donation, we spin our panels each month, keeping things fresher than a daisy."

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