A few weeks ago, ActBlue launched a long-awaited feature dubbed ActBlue Express, which allows donors to save their credit card information and billing address in an account for easy access during repeat visits.

ActBlue is to be commended for taking on the legal liability of securely storing what may come to be thousands of credit card numbers. Sure, Amazon.com and other online retailers can do it, but a small outfit like ActBlue offering a similar service is rare.

So let’s see how it works. As explained in the post above, ActBlue Express can be added to an existing MyActBlue account or created after a donation is completed. The best part about the profile is that it asks for mail vs. email solicitation preferences:

The next time the donor visits the site, they are offered the option to contribute via ActBlue Express:

Notice that the email address/password combination is required even if the user is currently logged in to MyActBlue. This is in contrast to Amazon.com’s 1-Click, which doesn’t ask for credentials before placing the order. Interestingly, because my email address and password are pre-filled by my browser, I actually prefer ActBlue’s implementation. If I needed to re-fill those credentials in, I may not be so enthused.

After clicking on the “Continue” button, the donor is asked to confirm billing address, occupation, employer information, and choose a credit card account to charge:

Not having to enter in any information or check any boxes is a truly pleasant experience, and ActBlue should expect to see their contributions go up thanks to this. They’re making it so much easier to contribute to campaigns, and as such, have become an even more essential service to the Democratic Party.