With charity-affiliated credit cards, your charity of choice could receive as little as £15 a year, even if you spend £500 every month.

Meanwhile, the APR interest rates on many charity cards are high, costing you money while you give.

For example, the Help the Aged affinity card offered by Cooperative Bank donates just 0.25 per cent of what you spend, while charging you a 18.9 per cent APR.

A better tack, according to uSwitch, is to stick with a conventional credit card and donate the difference saved on your APR to the cause close to your heart.

“Donating through charity credit cards is quick and painless, but consumers need to realise that not all cards offer the charity or the consumer a good deal,” uSwitch.com’s director of personal finance Nick White notes.

Or if you prefer to be tied into a regular arrangement obliging you to give, he suggests directing the cashback you receive from a reward card such as the Amex cashback card straight to your chosen charity.

To learn more about charity credit cards, click here.

© Adfero Ltd