Heavens above, the Kirk may take your offering by contactless card

THE Church of Scotland is planning to bring the collection plate into the digital age with the introduction of contactless payment terminals.

It is an idea that has also attracted interest from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland who said the technology “may be considered in future”.

It comes as the Church of England made 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 devices being despatched among the pews will accept contactless payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well as chip and pin transactions.

In 2016, contributions from Church of Scotland worshippers – including donations, fundraising and gift aid tax recovery – is around £70 million.

The Kirk has already sought to embrace the internet era having last year appointed former Moderator Very Rev Albert Bogle as its first digital minister and launched online services for those who may never set foot in a “real world” church.

The Kirk has also been among the first to consider online baptism as clergy seek new ways to address the needs of worshippers in a digital age.

But it now wants to deploy technology to make it easier for people to donate .

Anne Macintosh, General Treasurer of the Church of Scotland, said trials on contactless payment methods are also due to be held in Scotland.

She said: “We work with Church of England colleagues in areas of shared interest and were very excited to hear of the success of their trial.

“Our own Stewardship Team has been looking at this and we have identified a number of churches with a view to piloting contactless payment terminals in the near future.

“We envisage that these could be used for many purposes including retiring collections and donations by visitors to our historic churches and cathedrals.”

Ms Macintosh continued: “Regular giving to our congregations is largely made by direct debit which is hugely important.

“But we know that there are many occasions when special collections are held or people would like to give spontaneously but just don’t carry much cash.

“We think there is huge potential for congregations here, not only to raise extra income, but to show that the Church is moving with the times.”

In the Catholic Church, Bishop John Keenan, Bishop of Paisley, said it is accepted methods of giving were changing.

He said: “This is an evolving situation here in the UK and our parishes and laity are adapting continually with the times, and we see the balance changing markedly on parish accounts between direct debt payments on the one hand and basket collections on the other.

“My message was always ‘I am not asking you to give more but to give more thoughtfully’.”

A spokesman for the Catholic Church said: “While Catholic parishes do not use payment terminals at present, there is interest in the idea in some dioceses and they may be considered in future.”

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Episcopal Church said is not trialling such projects “at a provincial level” but added it could be being considered at congregational level.

There is huge potential ... to show that the Church is moving with the times