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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTap and pray: Churches using card readers for donations
James Brooks, Associated Press
Updated 10:37 am CDT, Monday, August 6, 2018
LONDON (AP) Thousands of Christian churches across the world are now using portable card readers or apps to take donations as people increasingly stop carrying cash on them.
The Church of England says 16,000 religious sites now have access to portable card readers. In the U.S., hundreds of churches have installed kiosks where the faithful can swipe a card to donate. Others are popularizing smartphone apps where money can be sent over at any time.
"How we pay for things is changing fast, especially for younger church-goers, who no longer carry cash, and we want all generations to be able to make the most of their place of worship," said John Preston, the Church of England's national stewardship officer.
The technologies vary from donations via website to apps and physical screens set up at the church. The contactless card reader, which can be passed around the pews like the traditional offerings plate, is a newer evolution that the Church of England in particular has been adopting.
More:
https://www.chron.com/business/technology/article/Tap-and-pray-Churches-using-card-readers-for-13134923.php
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Tap and pray: Churches using card readers for donations (Original Post)
Judi Lynn
Aug 2018
OP
Funny to see this now because I remember reading about it over 10 years ago!
BumRushDaShow
Aug 2018
#4
htuttle
(23,738 posts)1. One step closer to the Jesus kiosks from THX 1138
Initech
(100,090 posts)2. Praise the lord and pass the electronic credit card reading machine!
Doesn't have the same ring to it.
Docreed2003
(16,869 posts)3. I realize this makes donations easier for "the church"
But this shit is just sickening...
Maybe I'm overreacting and this is the reality of our modern age, but I wonder what the bibilical Jesus would think about this....bet it's more in line with his reaction to the moneylenders in the temple.
BumRushDaShow
(129,236 posts)4. Funny to see this now because I remember reading about it over 10 years ago!
For example -
The ATM in the Church Lobby
By Rita Healy/Denver Monday, July 30, 2007
Is that an ATM in the church lobby? Credit and debit card swipe machines in churches may startle some of the pious, but such kiosks, already present in some houses of worship, might become even more commonplace now that a new IRS regulation is in effect.
Beginning with gifts given in 2007, the IRS will demand documentation for charitable contributions under $250. Once, all one needed was a diary entry to vouch for such donations. Specially designed ATMs at church will help document such spur-of-the-moment cash gifts, as well as planned giving. Also as a result of the new IRS rule, credit card donations and tithing are likely to increase too because such electronic fund transfers leave a paper trail.
Large urban churches have been accepting credit cards for several years, tapping into the Generation P (for Plastic) aversion to carrying cash. Pastors like to tell jokes about parishioners collecting Frequent Flier points on the way to heaven. A recent Dallas Morning News poll found that 55% of 200 local churches accept credit and/or debit cards.
Automatic checking account withdrawals are used by some churches, and more recently, ATM-like kiosks are now available in many church corridors and lobbies, where parishioners can swipe a card and receive a printed receipt, which they can either save for the IRS or plunk into the collection basket with a flourish, so pew mates will know they're not spiritual freeloaders.
http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1648022,00.html
By Rita Healy/Denver Monday, July 30, 2007
Is that an ATM in the church lobby? Credit and debit card swipe machines in churches may startle some of the pious, but such kiosks, already present in some houses of worship, might become even more commonplace now that a new IRS regulation is in effect.
Beginning with gifts given in 2007, the IRS will demand documentation for charitable contributions under $250. Once, all one needed was a diary entry to vouch for such donations. Specially designed ATMs at church will help document such spur-of-the-moment cash gifts, as well as planned giving. Also as a result of the new IRS rule, credit card donations and tithing are likely to increase too because such electronic fund transfers leave a paper trail.
Large urban churches have been accepting credit cards for several years, tapping into the Generation P (for Plastic) aversion to carrying cash. Pastors like to tell jokes about parishioners collecting Frequent Flier points on the way to heaven. A recent Dallas Morning News poll found that 55% of 200 local churches accept credit and/or debit cards.
Automatic checking account withdrawals are used by some churches, and more recently, ATM-like kiosks are now available in many church corridors and lobbies, where parishioners can swipe a card and receive a printed receipt, which they can either save for the IRS or plunk into the collection basket with a flourish, so pew mates will know they're not spiritual freeloaders.
http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1648022,00.html
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)5. Hmmmm ... I wonder why god always needs more and more money and paid middlemen
to reach him.
AlexSFCA
(6,139 posts)6. sheeple
those money could be donated to charities and direct help, red cross, spca, raices, etc.