Case study: Contactless giving with Christ Church
Photograph credit: The Telegraph
In early 2021 we spoke with Reverend Margaret Cave, a Vicar at Christ Church in East Greenwich. As her church was one of the first to trial the Sum Up contactless card reader units through Parish Buying, we asked her to tell us about their experience using the units for giving during services.
She said, "I’d really encourage any church that has not yet purchased a contactless card reader to do so because they are really useful for one off payments as well as making a big difference to giving”. Reverend Margaret Cave went on to say that prior to Covid, passing round a portable contactless giving unit during the service made giving highly visible and accessible and, as a result, awareness of giving increased leading to a growing number of people giving through card and phone transactions and others setting up direct debits. Post lockdown, this visibility has been retained by having a stationary giving units by the exit door from the church. We were told that "although some people still prefer to give using cash, it is encouraging to see that many of the older congregation members are now much more confident when using contactless giving".
In addition to giving during and after services, the contactless units are really useful for taking payments for weddings or marriage banns as well as payments for one off events such as a church weekend away. It is easy to send receipts by text or email for one off payments making it safe and secure for everyone.
The introduction of contactless giving to Christ Church was so successful, it was picked up and covered by outlets including The Telegraph, BBC London and Sky News. This provided Christ Church with the opportunities to share their ministry beyond the church community.
