Salvation Army testing plastic at red kettles

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - It's a true season of change: The Salvation Army is experimenting with a plastic alternative for folks who don't have cash to throw in a holiday red kettle.

This season, five bell-ringers in El Paso County, Colo., will be the first to accept debit and credit cards along with spare change and bills. Salvation Army officials say the kettle tradition needs to be tweaked as consumers increasingly carry only plastic.

Bell ringers are giving the credit card-kettles mixed reviews. But some shoppers who saw the new kettles liked them, saying they've walked past kettles in the past and wanted to donate but had no cash.