Pray and pay... contactless now available in church
WE have all endured the embarrassment of having no change as the collection box is passed around at weddings and Christenings. But now plans from the Church of England are going to help us pay while we pray.
As of yesterday, the Church is making portable card readers available to more than 16,000 churches, cathedrals and religious sites with the aim of making donations and transactions easier for congregations. The readers can process contactless payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well as chip and pin transactions.
Alison Davie is secretary at St George’s Church Hub, in Stamford, Lincs – one of the churches to embrace the change.
She said: “Our parishioners can occasionally find themselves strapped for physical cash, so it’s fantastic to be able to offer an alternative.”
Each reader’s technology is run by financial technology company SumUp, and needs a “merchant”, to input each transaction.
The vast bulk of regular donating is expected to continue by standing order.
However, the Church said it had been looking at ways to update how congregations make donations, to a total of around £580million every year, in an increasingly cashless society.
It has also been investigating how to offer payment options to visitors at events such as weddings who are not prepared for the collection plate.
John Preston, national stewardship officer at the Church of England, said: “How we pay for things is changing, and we want all generations to be able to make the most of their place of worship.”