As of today, the CofE is making portable card readers available to more than 16,000 churches, cathedrals and religious sites with the aim of making donations and transactions faster and easier for congregations. The readers can take contactless payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well as chip and pin transactions, according to BT.
Each reader, whose technology is run by the London-based fintech company SumUp, needs a “merchant”, most likely a Church worker, to input each transaction, and a probable scenario will see members of the congregation walking past a manned device as they enter or leave a service or event.
The readers, which were tested during a trial involving 40 churches last year, are capable of supporting 500 transactions without recharging, although the vast bulk of regular donating is expected to continue by standing order.
The Church said it had been looking at how to update how congregations make donations, to a total of around £580 million every year, in an increasingly cashless society.
It has also been investigating how to offer payment options to visitors at events such as weddings, funerals, christenings, church fetes and concerts, who are not necessarily prepared for the collection plate.
John Preston, national stewardship officer at 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.
“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.”
Donations to the collection plate will not be included for the moment, as they are still being trialled.
It is hoped to introduce such payments later in the year, according to BBC.
One problem is that traditional ways of taking the collection – by passing round a plate or bag – are thought to be quicker than new technology. A church spokesperson said that people fishing around for a card could slow the process down.
One of those who took part in the trial was the Reverend Margaret Cave, from Christchurch in East Greenwich.
„It’s really great. I’m going to keep it,” she told the BBC.
„It makes us feel like we’re part of the 21st century, and we can take payments in a safe and secure way. As a vicar, I also know we don’t have cash floating around.”
However, she said taking a church collection via card readers wasn’t yet practical.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
