Accepting Credit Cards at Church
Credit card processing at Churches has emerged as a great way for churches to increase funds. Churches are following the leads of businesses who almost without exception accept credit cards as an effective way to generate revenue. And while technically a church may be a non-profit organization, it still has a specific purpose just as a business does. It needs to increase funds to accomplish that purpose. Any method that increases the church's ability to generate funds should be used and church credit card processing does just that.
In today's society when it's normal for people to have multiple credit cards in their wallets, many tend to carry little cash. And so if when during the presentation of tithing and offerings, people don't have cash in their wallets, the church won't get as many donations. To battle this and make it easier for members to donate funds, church credit card processing has increased.
Church credit card processing can help churches increase donations in multiple ways. To start off, the church can give its members the opportunity to make their tithing payment through the use of their credit cards. That makes it convenient for those members who don't carry much cash and frequently find themselves low on cash when the tithing plate comes around. The church also benefits because the more tithing and donations received through church credit card processing, the better the church is able to budget because it knows in advance how much it has coming in each week, month, or year.
Church credit card processing may not work exactly as credit card processing in stores but, it still requires something similar to a merchant account. Instead of actually swiping your card physically through a terminal, what generally happens is that you'll fill out a form at church or online providing all of your credit card billing information, the amount you want to contribute to the church, and the frequency of the donations. This is called "Automatic Tithing". Some like to give a smaller amount each week while some prefer to donate a larger lump sum annually.
The church credit card processing system will now take the member information and put it into an automated process. At the specified time interval, the members credit or debit card will automatically be billed and the funds will be disbursed immediately to the church's bank account. Church credit card processing has made it really easy and convenient for both the church member and the church when it comes to contributing.It also makes it very easy to do church fundraising by accepting credit card gifts and donations at the fundraiser.
The next logical advancement in church credit card processing is to be able to pay tithing via the church's website. Church members would go to the church's website and click on a link to a webpage where you could provide your credit card billing information and your tithing would be processed immediately.
This article was written by Todd Nelson, Marketing Director for Capital Merchant Solutions, Inc (HolyProcessing.com). CMS has been in the merchant account business for nearly 10 years, and offers free merchant accounts to both online and retail businesses. CMS also offers special programs for Churches and their members. One of these unique programs is called "Automatic Tithing", which allows Churches to allow their members to automatically donate using their credit card or debit card. This article may be republished as long as absolutely no changes are made, and the resource box is included. Copyright 2007 - Capital merchant Solutions, Inc. - All rights reserved.
Published June 22nd, 2007
Filed in Business, Finance, Technology
