Alongside the key speakers, who included newly appointed ambassador Martyn Lewis CBE and Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise, the Rt Hon Anna Soubry MP, prominent members of the financial, retail, hospitality and payments sectors gathered to acknowledge the milestone and learn more about what Pennies has planned for its future.

Pennies has been at the forefront of innovation in charitable donations since 2010 and in the last 12 months has doubled the number of micro-donations received through its digital charity box to 20 million. As the current trend towards a ‘Cashless Society’ accelerates, Pennies has created a digital ecosystem using new technology to create a more sustainable source of funding for charities.

Pennies’ digital charity box allows people to make small, affordable donations to charity when paying by card, in an accessible and convenient manner that fits with their lifestyles. The charity never collects donor data, allowing people to donate with the comfort of anonymity as part of their daily routine.

Alison Hutchinson, CEO of The Pennies Foundation said, “When Pennies launched in 2010, the period of technological change presented a unique opportunity to revolutionise the way donations are made to charity.

“Pennies demonstrates how the right innovation, that offers people an easy way to give, can make a tangible difference for good causes. The recent rapid advances in payments technology, from online shopping through to contactless and mobile payments, have been reflected in the growth of the Pennies movement over the past year with more and more people looking for simple, digital ways to give to charity.”

With in-depth knowledge of the voluntary sector spanning 32 years, Martyn Lewis CBE said: “I am thrilled to become an ambassador for Pennies. The digital charity box is a modern way to give that puts the power to donate in the hands of every individual, offering a private way to donate without giving any personal details. In today’s cashless society a third of Brits never carry money; therefore micro-donations are a powerful new fundraising tool charities and businesses should get behind. This is a wonderful and positive news story.”

Rt Hon Anna Soubry MP, Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise, said, “Pennies stands out as simple but powerful, and is already making a significant contribution across the UK. I congratulate Pennies on bringing together such a breadth of industries and sectors to create this digital ecosystem as a force for good. All businesses have a responsibility to give back; I encourage all to join the growing Pennies movement, to unlock this funding channel for our communities and be part of the success. It just makes good business sense.”

There are 43 million cardholders in the UK today and around 1 million card transactions every hour. If every cardholder donated just 30p once a month more than £150 million could be raised for charity every year.