Credit Donation Machines in Assembly Halls

by leonbus23 31 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  sir82

  steve2,

  Good points. I guess we'll just have to stick with the "charge 1 cent" method.

  I'm sure if people really did that, the WTS would want to track down who it was, and send the elders after him/her.

  I.e., if they see 100 1 cent transactions from a card belonging to "Fred Herpaderp" made at a circuit assembly on October 1, and they know that Oklahoma Circuit 1 met there that weekend, they could call the Oklahoma 1 CO and ask what congregation Fred belongs to, and then sic the elders on him.

  Is it legal for a credit card vendor to use the name on a credit card for such a purpose?
• 

  steve2

  Is it legal for a credit card vendor to use the name on a credit card for such a purpose?

  When it comes to making donations, potentially all the card-bearing details (name, number) could be made known to the recipient. You could always try taking out a card which goes by the name of V N Apostate (where the initials V N stand for Very Naughty). This may give the recipient the option of declining the payment or changing their minds about apostates as in "Hey, you're not V N Apostate but V G Apostate" (where V G stands for Very Good).

  One of the "joys" of the modern electronic age is that all our transactions are potentially traceable, but the recipient would "only" have the card holder's details.
• 

  dogon

  classic dubbers, they could give a shit about their followers as long as they get the cash. If anyone ever doubeted that its all about the money. Fuck these fools, if anyone is stupid enough to give money to them they deserve to be homeless and starving.
• 

  Desilusionnee

  I can confirm this information...the first time I saw credit donation machines in our assembly hall was 2 or 3 years ago at a DC...and I leave in Austria..
• 

  Gayle

  Desilusionnee,,were there any personal comments when this started there?,,I know most JW will just go along with this. Did you notice the 'terminals' being actively used at the time? Someone said on this site that donations increased quite a bit for them at some location.
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  Desilusionnee

  They said from the stage that we've got a new "donation possibility", but I must admit they were not many people using it. The machines were behind the stage, where families with kids and babies usually sit. Hubby didn't want me to use them!!! For that ( "One of the "joys" of the modern electronic age is that all our transactions are potentially traceable, but the recipient would "only" have the card holder's details.") reason.

  As for the information about the increase of donation since there are machines, I can't really confirm it...
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  Band on the Run

  What is the principled difference between an ATM machines and repeated exhortations to give and a nice offertory plate, accompanied by organ machine? They always hemmed and hawed about the Catholic Church. Well, I've attended Catholic churches and the offering is much more subtle than the Witnesses. Oh? Offertory plates are brass or silver and an ATM is plastic and metal. Now I get it!
• 

  EmptyInside

  If I wasn't stumbled already,I'm stumbled now. I think the whole idea is tacky. I realize most don't carry much cash nowadays. But,if the Witnesses want to contribute at their conventions and assemblies,they have time to put a few dollars aside or write a check. I don't see the need for this,but,of course,I realize most will donate more.

  But,after all the past counsel of hardly using credit cards.
• 

  leonbus23

  I spoke with my mother about this yesterday. She knew nothing about it, but asked my elder brother about it. My brother said that a letter was sent explaining the arrangement. Apparently, if an area does not have a local assembly hall, the witnesses in that area will not be notified of the existence of these credit machines. My mother, of course, said soemthing to the effect of, "well a lot of the brother and sisters wanted to donate but didnt have cash."
• 

  dropoffyourkeylee

  So I was at an assembly recently and had to try it out. My understanding is that the fee for a credit card purchase that goes to the credit card company is about $5, so if I donate $5, doesn't the majority go to the company and almost zero to the WT?

  They accept either debit or credit, and they didn't say anything about a minimum donation. I got a laugh when the receipt said 'JWAH' as the vendor.

  They are making a joke out of Christianity