The New Hospitality Cards Work!

I’ve been waiting for this capability for, no joke, well over a decade. We recently distributed 3 cards operated by Current and one has finally gotten used!

Our cardholder purchased some food today with money that was very generously donated by YOU! The cards have been tested at ATMs and they are declined there so the card holders cannot withdraw cash.

The system is far from perfect but it’s really nice to take this step. Subway has been amazing for the past few years as we used their cards but it’s so valuable to offer more than a sandwich. At this time there is an issue with getting the app to load on the cardholder’s phone so they can’t check their balance but that’s getting worked on. There are also annual fees per card and we can only have 5 cards per account which means a lot of accounts for a successful program. But we are hopeful that when Current sees what we can do with their card they will work with us to build in some adjustments…one can hope.

The picture being shared is a view of the receipt I see in my “Parent” app when a purchase is made. I’m going to follow up with this cardholder to find out more details about what he purchased. I also plan on having these first cardholders test the system a bit by attempting to buy items that should be restricted so look for updates on that.

Obviously this is a very cash-reliant program but this puts the power in our hands as a community to serve our neighbors in a very direct and safe way while seeing the impact of our coming together. If you are able, please donate through our PayPal. All donations to any of our programs go, 100%, to programs and this is the only way we can continue putting money on these cards for people to purchase food and clothing in such a dignified way.