St Martin-in-the-Fields Trust, a charity supporting the work of the iconic central London church, is enabling supporters to make charitable donations whilst spending through its partnership with Currensea, which has created a money-saving debit card linked to existing bank accounts. The work of the Trust includes helping women move away from homelessness and supporting other vulnerable people. 

Customers can now donate to the St Martin’s Trust when spending both at home and abroad. Donations can be made by rounding up spending to the nearest 5p in the UK or from savings made on overseas transactions.

As the average person makes 380 debit card transactions per year in the UK, this new partnership offers the St Martin’s Trust a potential donation of almost £24 per person, including Gift Aid, from roundup spending in the UK alone. 

St Martin-in-the-Fields Trust works with many of London’s most vulnerable communities and donations from using the Currensea card will be used to support projects including the upkeep of the historic building, community projects such as St Martin’s Voices choir and projects including 18 Keys which aims to improve the lives of women moving away from homelessness.

Typically, homelessness services are more geared to men than women, the 18 Keys project supports homeless women and includes transforming accommodation space and creating safe spaces to house women and support and encourage future independence. 

The Currensea card uses secure technology called open banking – a secure data-sharing approach between financial institutions – to connect directly to someone’s bank account with their approval, allowing travellers to make overseas transactions directly from funds in their current account, whilst avoiding high bank fees, and UK users to use the round-up function.

Katy Shaw, Director of St Martin-in-the-Fields, said:

“This is a great option for our supporters looking for a simple way to donate to the vital causes that St. Martins continues to champion. A 5p donation may not seem like much to many people, but for charities it’s part of an integral contribution that can change lives. Also, rather than wasting money on overseas foreign exchange fees, Currensea’s card is a fantastic option to save money and donate to charity at the same time. It’s a unique way for donors to continue their support whilst saving costs on their travel fees when spending abroad.”

James Lynn, Co-Founder of Currensea, added: 

“We’re delighted to be partnering with one of London’s most iconic institutions and offering another great option for customers looking for more control over how they spend their money. Rounding up spending is a simple way of giving back to our community, with a small contribution making all the difference.

“Not only can Currensea customers avoid the high foreign exchange they typically face when spending abroad, but they can also now support charitable causes such as St. Martin’s instantly and automatically by donating part of or all these savings directly.

“Travellers finally have an alternative to the financial model that has been in place for far too long, charging sky-high fees to use our own money whilst abroad. Currensea’s card proves that this doesn’t have to be the case and travellers can now spend or donate their hard-earned cash and savings however they wish.”