A new initiative from bitcoin shopping service Purse, in partnership with Chain and the BitGive Foundation, allows consumers to receive discounts on Amazon purchases and donate to charity at the same time.

Called the '1% Initiative', the US-only scheme launched yesterday with the aim of showcasing the benefits of bitcoin both for the consumer and the greater good, while also increasing Purse’s customer base.

Purse

is a platform through which customers can buy products on Amazon using bitcoin. Notably, shoppers receive discounts made possible by other users who pay a premium to buy bitcoin using the P2P marketplace. Last week, Purse opened its first bricks-and-mortar location in San Francisco.

Now, Purse is available for the Amazon Smile platform, the arm of the online retail giant that donates 0.5% of customers’ total order prices to a charity of their choosing.

Customers can access the Smile platform through Purse and have the same 0.5% donated to charity, while still receiving their discount for paying in bitcoin.

For the initial three months, Chain, who provides the technical back-end for Purse, will match each donation to bitcoin charity the BitGive Foundation.

BitGive executive director Connie Gallippi said:

As the functionality is built out, additional options will become available for charitable donations, Purse said.