PAYBACK hands over cheque for EUR 3 million to international UNICEF ambassador Harry Belafonte

Berlin, Munich, 15 February 2011 – On Tuesday, Harry Belafonte accepted a cheque for EUR 3 million from PAYBACK managing director Bernhard Brugger. This handsome sum is a result of the ten-year partnership between PAYBACK and Unicef. Customers of Europe's biggest loyalty programme can choose specific aid projects to which to donate the points they have collected while shopping. In 2010 alone, points equivalent to EUR 345,000 were donated to UNICEF. The money is being put towards the “Schools for Africa” project and to help the relief efforts in Haiti and Pakistan.

The cheque was handed over as part of a ceremony held in honour of Belafonte in Berlin. The world-famous singer, actor and civil rights activist was presented with the “UNICEF Children's Rights Award” in recognition of his decades of support in this area. “We salute Mr. Belafonte for the outstanding contribution he has made to the lives of underprivileged children and families. We would also like to express our gratitude to the millions of PAYBACK customers and our partner companies. It is also thanks to them that we are able to donate such an incredible sum of money,” says Bernhard Brugger at the event held to hand over the cheque.

Payback has been working with aid organisations since the loyalty programme was started in 2000. The company has always placed great emphasis on not only making a financial contribution itself, but also giving its customers the opportunity to donate the points they collect to good causes. The PAYBACK donations initiative was designed and put in place in cooperation with experts at betterplace.org.

A photo of the event can be found here.