PayaCharity

What PayaCharity does

PayaCharity, operated by Cornerstone Merchant Services (North) Limited and a brand under PAYA Group, provides contactless donation technology and digital fundraising infrastructure to UK charities. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Northampton, the company deploys NFC-enabled tap-to-donate hardware in portable, fixed, and freestanding display formats across high-footfall locations such as museums, galleries, religious buildings, and retail stores. Its device estate supports all major payment methods — Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay, and Google Pay — and is complemented by a centralized management portal for campaign tracking and by a Gift Aid recovery service that helps charities maximize eligible donation value.

The company's revenue model combines two streams: recurring hardware rental (with flexible terms ranging from one week to 18 months) and per-transaction fees on donations processed through its devices. Go-to-market is direct sales to UK charities of all sizes, targeting what the company classifies as a mid-market buyer. In November 2022, PayaCharity acquired Toucan, a charity donation app that had appeared on BBC Dragons' Den in 2022, adding QR-code and SMS donation channels plus a mobile app with donation-splitting features aimed at younger donors. The company is currently integrating that business under the "Toucan Giving" brand, signaling a shift from a pure hardware provider toward a unified physical-plus-digital donation platform.

PayaCharity is FCA-authorized (firm number 710416) for the rental of hardware and has won three industry awards (Payment Awards 2018; Card & Payment Awards 2019 and 2021). It is described as the UK's largest provider of contactless donation devices, with named case-study customers including the Royal British Legion and an unnamed animal welfare sanctuary. Reported customer outcomes include over £500,000 raised in a single day and over £2 million in a week by charity customers using the platform.

Name

PayaCharity

Legal name

Cornerstone Merchant Services (North) Limited

Website

https://payacharity.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PayaCharity provides contactless donation devices and digital fundraising tools to UK charities. Operating as a PAYA Group brand, it supports tap-to-donate hardware, QR and SMS donation channels, and the acquired Toucan Giving app for organizations including the Royal British Legion.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charity Payment Solutions

NAICS

Business Support Services (5614)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Creator Tipping, Donations & Micro-Payments (MPACAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Request-to-Pay (R2P) & Pay Links (FSAMAFAE)

Keywords

• Contactless donation devices
• Charity payment solutions
• Tap-to-donate terminals
• Digital fundraising platforms
• Gift Aid processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Northampton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Device Rental: PayaCharity rents out contactless donation devices to charities. The company offers flexible rental periods from 1 week to 18 months. This is a recurring rental revenue model for hardware.
2. Contactless Donation Transaction Fees: Revenue generated from transaction fees on donations processed through their contactless devices. The company accepts all major payment methods including Google Pay, Apple Pay, Visa, Mastercard, and Amex.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

PayaCharity specialises in providing contactless donation solutions to UK charities, supplying portable, fixed, and freestanding donation boxes/terminals that enable tap-to-donate payments via contactless cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. The company also offers digital fundraising tools (QR codes and SMS donation links), Gift Aid processing support, and a management portal, complemented by the acquired Toucan app for mobile and digital giving.

Product overview

PayaCharity offers a unified contactless donation platform for UK charities consisting of physical contactless donation devices (portable, fixed, and standing displays), digital fundraising tools (QR codes and SMS donation links), and the acquired Toucan App. The portfolio is managed through a central Management Portal with optional Gift Aid recovery and Custom Branding add-ons. The company supports all major payment methods including Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, Mastercard, and Amex, with device rental flexibility ranging from 1 week to 18 months.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Toucan Giving: Digital charity giving platform with contactless donation solutions, QR codes, SMS donation links, and features like donation splitting among causes. The brand now operates under Toucan Giving following the acquisition.

Products and services

• Contactless Donation Boxes Portable, fixed, and freestanding contactless donation devices that allow donors to tap their contactless cards to make instant donations, typically used by UK charities in high footfall locations such as museums, galleries, shopping malls, and religious buildings.
• Standing Displays Free-standing fundraising display units designed for large public spaces such as museums, galleries, and churches, offering maximum visibility for contactless donations.
• Fixed Displays Fully branded static colour display units that can be fixed into positioned locations including shop windows to encourage out-of-hours donations.
• Gift Aid Processing Service enabling charities to recover Gift Aid on eligible donations across all channels, maximising donation value through UK tax reclaim support.
• Management Portal Online portal providing charities with tools to track and maximise fundraising strategy with tap-to-donate technology, including donation analytics and device management.
• Toucan App Charity donation app with features including donation splitting among multiple causes, acquired by PayaCharity in 2022 to enable digital and mobile charitable giving.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over £500,000 raised in a single day by a charity customer
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Toucan GivingcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 November 2022PayaCharity acquired Toucan, a charity app introduced on BBC Dragons' Den in 2022. The acquisition aims to enhance digital offerings in the charitable sector, engage younger donors, and expand digital transformation with features like donation splitting among causes. Toucan is now integrated as 'Toucan Giving' under the PayaCharity umbrella.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Give as You Live: UK online donation platform enabling consumers to raise money for charities through online and in-store shopping. Overlaps with PayaCharity's TapSimple/Toucan digital donation offerings for the UK charity market.
• JustGiving: One of the UK's largest online charity giving platforms, enabling individual and event-based fundraising for thousands of charities. Comparable to PayaCharity in serving UK charity fundraising, with overlap on digital donation flows.
• Funraise: Nonprofit fundraising platform with donation forms, CRM, and payment processing. Overlaps with PayaCharity on the digital donation and nonprofit payment processing layer.
• Donorbox: Online fundraising and donor management platform serving nonprofits globally with donation forms, recurring giving, and payment processing. Comparable to PayaCharity in providing digital donation infrastructure to charitable organisations.
• Pennies Foundation: UK-based digital micro-donation charity enabling shoppers to round up purchases or add small donations at the point of sale. Closely comparable to PayaCharity's mission of capturing small, frictionless donations through payment infrastructure for charitable causes.
• PayPal Giving Fund: PayPal's charitable donations programme enabling online donations to UK and US nonprofits. Direct peer to PayaCharity in the digital donations space, with both platforms focused on making it easier for consumers to give electronically to charities.

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Global payments platform with specific nonprofit and donation products. A broad incumbent in the payments layer that increasingly competes with specialised charity donation platforms like PayaCharity.
• Zettle by PayPal: PayPal-owned payment terminal provider offering contactless card readers to small businesses and charities. Closely comparable to PayaCharity's contactless donation boxes in form factor and use case, but as part of a much broader commerce offering.
• Blackbaud: Large US-listed provider of software, payments, and services to nonprofits, including donation processing and CRM. Comparable as a broad incumbent serving the same charity sector with a wider portfolio than PayaCharity.
• SumUp: European payment terminal and POS provider widely used by small businesses and increasingly by charities. Adjacent competitor to PayaCharity's contactless donation device fleet at the hardware/terminal layer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/payacharity

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PayaCharity