CPI Card Group announced on April 21, 2026 that it had donated 25,000 paper cards and a monetary contribution to support Street Charity’s national rollout. The nonprofit’s $5 prepaid cards are designed for spending at US fast-food and quick-service restaurants. [S01]

A restricted-use payment tool

The partnership covered a shift from plastic to single-use paper cards and a multi-card carrier, alongside personalisation and fulfilment. Street Charity distributes cards through organisations and individual donors using bulk orders or recurring fulfilment. [S01]

The cards run on the Discover network and are issued by Central Bank of Kansas City. Their terms limit use to eligible US quick-service restaurants where Discover is accepted, with no cash or ATM access. Card funds are not FDIC insured. [S01]

Donation, card value and delivery costs are different amounts

The nonprofit’s current website separately explains that a card carries $5 of food value, with additional amounts for tax and programme delivery. Its published cost breakdown totals $6.99 per card. A donor’s contribution should therefore not be treated as identical to the card’s face value. [S02]

CPI’s contribution of 25,000 physical cards should similarly not be converted into $125,000 of donated meal value. The release did not say CPI funded those cards’ full stored balances or disclose the amount of its separate monetary donation. [S01]

The operational significance

For a programme serving recipients through community organisations, the work extends beyond manufacturing a card. Personalisation, distribution and clear acceptance rules determine whether a recipient can use the promised value. The partnership is a concrete example of prepaid infrastructure being applied to a specific social purpose.

The announcement did not report redemption rates or an independently measured reduction in food insecurity. Those outcomes require evidence beyond the number of cards produced or distributed. The relevant confirmed development was the production and fulfilment support for the programme.