Generosity, at the Speed of Payments
For many people, generosity becomes personal the moment a cause stops feeling abstract. Americans donated nearly $600 billion to charitable causes in 2024 — much of it through systems most people barely notice. Tiny transactions. Massive impact.
As someone treated at [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center](https://www.mskcc.org/), I've come to appreciate firsthand the extraordinary work done by organizations like [MSK](https://www.mskcc.org/), [Stand Up To Cancer](https://standuptocancer.org/), and [St. Jude Children's Research Hospital](https://www.stjude.org/).
Like me, I'm sure many of you support organizations or causes that feel personal — sometimes because of family, sometimes because of friends, and sometimes because at some point the cause stopped feeling abstract. For many people, giving starts the moment cancer stops being something that happens to someone else.
Americans donated nearly $600 billion to charitable causes in 2024 alone, with roughly two-thirds of that giving coming directly from individuals. Behind a large portion of that generosity are systems most people barely notice — recurring donations, campaign contributions, text-to-give, digital wallets, and online fundraising platforms processing millions of small transactions quietly every day. Healthcare-related nonprofits were among the strongest-growing donation categories in 2024, while online giving continued to reach record levels.
After more than 30 years in payments, one thing stands out clearly to me. Electronic payments don't just make commerce more efficient. They allow generosity to move faster, farther, and at a scale that simply wasn't possible before. A few dollars from a phone, a monthly donation, a simple contribution made in seconds — tiny transactions that collectively help fund research, treatment, support systems, clinical trials, and breakthroughs that change lives.
It also makes you think differently about the broader payments ecosystem. How many people know whether their bank or card issuer supports socially responsible causes? How many realize their loyalty points can sometimes be directed toward charities or research organizations they care deeply about? In many cases, the ability to contribute is already built into the financial products people use every day — often quietly, and without much attention.
Technology alone doesn't create generosity. But sometimes a few dollars moving quietly through a network become part of something far bigger than a transaction.
Generosity travels on infrastructure most people never see.
Franco Di Pietro
The Payments Corner
30+ years across payments, fintech, banking, and financial infrastructure. Operator-level perspectives on the systems that move money.
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