1:00pm UK, Wednesday December 29, 2010
Shoppers could be asked to make donations to charity every time they use their bank card in a shop or cash machine, the Government has suggested.
Plans unveiled by the Cabinet Office also say that people could be prompted to give money when filling in tax returns or applying for passports and driving licences.
The initiatives were included in a consultation paper which ministers hope will make charitable giving of both money and time a "social norm".
The document said that UK banks could copy a system used in Colombia that allows customers to make a donation each time they withdraw cash.
It also suggested a national "round up the pound" scheme which would allow people to give donate "change" when paying by debit or credit card.
The report said that while Britons are generous with their money, they rank only 29th in a list of all countries when it comes to volunteering.
Public services will be encouraged to take on more volunteers, but the Government has denied that the move is an effort to provide public services "on the cheap" amid big spending cuts.
Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude said a consultation with a working group of businesses would last until March 9 and would lead to firm proposals in the spring.
He told Sky News: "What we're looking for is are there ways of making it easier for people to do more."
John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, told Sky News: "Government wants people to get together in communities and wants them to somehow find a way of fixing the problems in society and this is part of trying to fix that problem."
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