The Zero-Hurdle Experience Design I Felt with 'Heralbony Card Point Donations,' Where Daily Payments Become Support

It is the end of April, and in some regions, the cherry blossoms have already faded; the GW (Golden Week) season is upon us once again. It seems that in 2026, some people will have a maximum of 12 consecutive days off!

Are you planning any trips or special outings for Golden Week? While I imagine it is a difficult situation this year, I think some people might be buying themselves a slightly extravagant treat.
That brings us to the checkout at the register, credit card statements, and the balances we suspect of unauthorized use.

I wrote an article about debit cards two years ago, and at the same time this year, I would like to share a short story about credit cards. Please bear with this sad money-counting specter whose episodes always end up being about household budget management.

With that said, this installment of [Unauthorized Analysis! Good CX] will analyze the "Heralbony Card (Epos Card)," which allows you to donate based on your credit card usage amount.

Cashless payments have raised the hurdle for donations

Is there anyone who makes donations habitually?
Even if people are interested in social issues, I think there are quite a few who have never actually donated. I hear that you can set up monthly fixed deductions from your bank account, but because of my own inertia, I have never been able to take action.
In the era when cash was mainstream, many people had the habit of putting their change into the donation box next to the register, but I suspect many have stopped doing so entirely now that cashless payments have become widespread.

Without easy and familiar methods like "putting change into a register donation box," you first have to find a place to donate, decide on an amount, go through the procedures... it takes more effort than you would think, and unless you have a strong will, you end up hesitating and never taking that step.

Common credit card point rewards and a unique mechanism

I manage my monthly budget by using Zaim to categorize my transactions in detail, using multiple cards for different major categories, and roughly managing them with usage alerts.
Around the time I discovered OneBank, I decided to divide my expenses into three categories: fluid living expenses like food and daily necessities, larger fixed expenses like rent and home appliances, and surplus funds for hobbies and leisure outside of those. I was looking for a credit card to use exclusively for the last category, hobby payments.

It was right around that time that I found the Heralbony Card, where "a portion of the usage amount is donated to companies engaged in welfare projects."

Works by artists with intellectual disabilities are used in the card's design, and 0.1% of the credit card usage amount is automatically sent to Heralbony Inc., which handles disability welfare projects. The more you use the card, the more it leads to support.

I am not well-versed in welfare, nor had I known about Heralbony beforehand, so my first impression was just, "Huh, something like this exists." The design caught my eye, and since it was a time when I wanted to get a new card, I applied with the lighthearted feeling that "if I can be of a little help to someone through my daily expenses, that would be nice."

Cashless payments + automation have eliminated the hurdle for donations!

What I realized after I started using it is that the core of this card's experience lies in the fact that "you don't have to do anything."

Donating feels like an act of consciously giving away money. Because you are taking it out of your wallet and handing it over for a specific purpose, it inevitably feels like an "expense." However, with the Heralbony Card, the donation is completed automatically just by shopping as usual. To be precise, a portion of the point return rate is deducted, so it is leaving your hands, but you hardly feel it. You could say the burden is virtually zero.

As such, since I am really just paying by credit card as usual, I don't even realize I am using the Heralbony Card.
However, when I look at the usage statement page, the number of points donated that month is displayed. It is a trivial amount, but when I saw that number, I felt a sense of realization that "Oh, that manga purchase is leading to a donation."

And such mechanisms are called "nudges" in behavioral economics and similar fields.

The mechanism where donations are made just by shopping as usual, except for when you first start using it, corresponds to the "default" in a nudge. This is about making the good choice the default; for example, there is a case where "in Chicago school lunches, after placing healthy dishes like salads in a position easy for children to reach, vegetable intake increased by 30%."
In the case of the Heralbony Card, because "the effort of donating is consolidated into a single decision of choosing the card," the state of donating becomes the default. It is similar to a subscription contract.

The mechanism that displays the number of points donated that month corresponds to 'Give feedback' in nudging. This provides timely and appropriate feedback on the results of one's choices, and other examples include systems like 'refrigerator warning sounds.' feedback (Give feedback). This provides timely and appropriate feedback on the results of one's choices, and other examples include systems like 'refrigerator warning sounds.'
In the case of the Heralbony Card, the sense of usage that is normally erased by default is fed back as a tangible sense of being helpful through these numbers, creating a state where the customer can continuously feel the effect of their actions (donation amount)'.

Feeling like I'm doing something good, even though I'm just doing something fun

While this depends largely on personal usage, I use the Heralbony Card exclusively for 'payments for hobbies and leisure expenses outside of living costs and necessary expenses,' so the actions I take for fun are strangely connected to doing something good. Since my enjoyment leads to donations, the guilt I used to feel about fun but slightly large expenditures has gradually decreased.

This feeling of 'doing something good without effort or strain' is unexpectedly pleasant, and it feels like my daily life has been elevated by 0.1%.
When I think that each of these small daily life choices becomes an expression of intent and leads to voting activities on the question of 'what kind of society do you want?', I realize that while finding good services can sometimes be a hassle, I want to continue choosing things carefully without being lazy.

That concludes this Good CX example, following the prepaid card one. Household management and choosing spending services are almost a hobby for me now, so if you know of any interesting services, please let me know! I'm waiting.
See you later.

(Author: Design Researcher Soma)

💡 I deliver articles that analyze Good CX (good customer experience) encountered in daily life in the series 'Good CX Bookmarks.' Please see this introductory article for the purpose of the series and other articles.

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