Congregations to give using contactless as churches introduce digital collection plates

Worshippers will be able to use contactless to donate after the Church of England unveiled plans to digitise its collection plates. 

From August around 40 churches are expected to have hand-held terminals to process donations made using contactless cards.

John Preston, national stewardship officer at the Church of England, told the Financial Times: “We’re aware that younger generations — and there are many people now who don’t carry cash — want to give in different ways. Enabling them to give in a way that suits them is something we’d like to try.”

The Church added that the churches involved in the pilot have not yet been chosen but are expected to have a mixture of young and older congregations. If successful the system will be offered to every diocese next year. 

The scheme will run over the Harvest Festival and Christmas periods, two events which attract large congregations and will allow the new method to be tested on bigger groups as well as the regular Sunday attendance. 

The pilot will test different methods of using the card readers, including passing it around alongside a traditional collection plate and leaving it at the back of a church for members to give as they leave. 

Church leaders are particularly hoping to use the card readers to take donations from attendees at events such as weddings and christenings, who do not regularly come to church so do not carry cash for donations. 

Earlier this year several large charities said they planned to roll out the use of contactless donation boxes after a successful trial found that people tended to give three times as much when using cards as opposed to cash. 

Cash use has declined as use of contactless has increased. Research by the Charities Aid Foundation has found that of the two-thirds of adults who have a contactless card, more than a third carry less cash.