Church of England rolls out cashless giving
Melanie May | 21 March 2018 | News
The Church of England is making contactless, virtual terminal, and SMS mobile payments available throughout England, it has announced.
Over 16,000 churches, cathedrals, and religious sites will have access to portable card readers through the Church of England’s Parish Buying portal under a partnership with SumUp and iZettle, following a trial which began in summer 2017 in cathedrals and parish churches. The partnership will allow them to offer cashless payment options for events including weddings, christenings, church fetes and concerts, as well as for making one-off donations and the booking of churches and halls.
Technology facilitating charitable donations on a self-service basis, including passing around a reader for the collection, continues to be trialed and is expected to be launched in the second phase of the project.
John Preston, National Stewardship Officer of the Church of England said:
“There is a clear need for our parishes to introduce card and contactless facilities and we are excited to make this available through Parish Buying. 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.
“Installing this technology does mean that one-off fees can be done via card, as can making one-off donations. The vast bulk of regular giving will continue to be done by standing order as we continue our trial with various technologies.”
Main image: St Aiden, Bamburgh, Newcastle.
Advertisement
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.