It's official

iamwhoiam

We are now doing a trial run for accepting credit/debit cards at the convention for donations this summer. No reciepts or copies of reciepts will be held by the WT. The monies will be deposited straight into the society's account. Only one printed receipt will be printed for the person who donated.

sizemik

EFT-POS machines at the KH next . . . or maybe mobile EFT-POS for piosneers?

Money's the name of the game these days.

Quendi

I remember when the Society severely criticized the churches for doing this. Years ago, Awake! carried a thumbnail story under its "Watching the World" feature with the title "Pray now, Pay Later". After slamming the entire idea as nothing more than a money-grubbing scheme by materialistic churches to fleece their flocks, the story asked, "Obviously, somebody is benefitting, but how much benefit is the average churchgoer getting?" "Obviously" the WTS now believes "if you can't lick 'em, join 'em"!

Quendi

OUTLAW

Feed the..

WatchTower Money Pig!..

.................... ...OUTLAW

J. Hofer

would they notice if i'd put up a POS there?

Mad Sweeney

Watchting the World: Awake! - 8/8/2003

Plastic Card Donations

“A growing number of Canadian churches” are adopting “modern banking practices, introducing bank cards and credit cards as convenient ways for parishioners to make collection-plate donations,” says the VancouverSun newspaper. Debit machines have been placed in church halls along with “donation envelopes with options for automatic account withdrawal and credit card payment.” Individuals simply swipe their card, key in the amount they wish to donate, and then put a copy of the receipt in the collection plate. As one pastor stated: “A cashless society is where society is going. Why not the church?” A church treasurer joked: “You get air-miles on your card, plus you go to heaven for donations. Just think of it as double reward points.”

White Dove

Sounds like at least in one respect they are catching up with the times.

undercover

Sounds like at least in one respect they are catching up with the times.

Yea... when it comes to raking in money quicker and more efficiently, they're right on the ball.

but when it comes to technology as far as the sharing of information and knowledge, they try their damndest (and without much success) to squelch their followers from using such technology.

Iconoclast

I wonder how long it will take a semi-smart hacker to hack into their accounts and steal information. It will probably be some pissed off ex-JW to boot.

Mad Sweeney

11/1/75 Watchtower

“Pray Now, Pay Later”

"The phrase “pray now, pay later” appeared in a headline of the Philadelphia “Inquirer” in reporting on a church experiment due to go into effect shortly. A group of ten U.S. religions, including some major Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist and Baptist denominations, have decided to try church collections by credit card. The experiment, sponsored by the National Council of Churches, will encourage participating church members to authorize credit-card transfers of a specified contribution to their church each month. The idea, a Council spokesman says, is that “this will provide the local church with regular income whether or not the local congregation is in attendance,” especially in “off-seasons,” like summer vacation time. The report on the experiment says that those joining the program will be “giving unto business what belongs to business—a profit.” How so? “Participating banks will charge 65 cents a transaction, and the credit card companies will rake off 3 percent of every donation.” Obviously someone benefits, but how much spiritual benefit is the modern churchgoer getting?"

It's official

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