The Church of England is trialling a ‘digital collection box’ solution for making charitable donations via contactless technology from SumUp.

Using a card reader and smartphone, members of church congregations can now donate with their card, rather than cash. Parishioners can choose a donation amount - from four set by the Church itself - and pay in seconds.

SumUp, a London-based payment technology company, has been working with the religious organisation over the last year in order to offer 16,000 churches and cathedrals throughout England access to new tech, with support from Visa.

The technology can be used to take contactless payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and is capable of supporting 500 transactions without recharging. A fixed table-top version of the solution is also available, enabling people to donate before or after the service.

After the churches involved in the trial experienced a doubling of donations (97 per cent increase), SumUp is now planning to make the solution available to churches throughout England and Wales via the Church’s Parish Buying service.

Reverend Margaret Cave, vicar of Christ Church East Greenwich, comments: “We have seen the age profile of Christ Church get lower over the last few years as we have welcomed more families, children and young people as well as young adults through different projects such as our Church football team, our youth and children’s work and our Connect Mums group.

“Most young people don’t carry cash so it’s important for us as a church to be ahead of the curve embracing modern technology and working with new ways for people to make donations,” she added.

Marc-Alexander Christ, co-founder of SumUp, added: “In 2019 we are going to see an even greater uptake in contactless payments as we transition towards a truly cashless society – this means that elements of everyday life will need to adapt, and the digital collection plate is an amazing example of tradition meeting technology.”

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