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Church credit card processing has emerged as a great way for churches to generate funds. Churches are following the leads of businesses who almost without exception accept credit cards as an effective way to generate revenue. Although technically a church may be a non-profit organization, just like a business, the church still has a specific purpose. It needs to generate funds to accomplish that purpose. Church credit card processing increases the church's ability to generate funds.

In today's society when it's common for people to carry multiple credit and debit cards in their wallets, many tend to carry very little cash. If during the time of tithing and offerings, people don't have cash in their pockets, the church will not get as many contributions. To fight this and make it easier for members to contribute funds, church credit card processing has increased.

Processing credit cards at church can help churches increase contributions in multiple ways. First, the church can offer its members the opportunity to make their donations through the use of their credit cards. That makes it convenient for those members who don't carry much cash and frequently find themselves low on cash when the tithing plate comes around. It also benefits the church because the more offerings and donations received through church credit card processing, the better the church is able to budget because it knows in advance how much it has coming in each week, month, or year.

Church credit card processing may not work exactly as credit card processing in stores but, it still requires something similar to a merchant account. Instead of actually swiping your card physically through a machine, what generally happens is that you'll fill out a form at church or online providing all of your credit card billing information, the amount you want to contribute to the church, and the frequency of the donations. This is called "Automatic Tithing". Some like to donate a larger sum annually, while others may prefer to donate a smaller amount each week.

The church credit card processing system will now take the member information and put it into an automated system. At the specified time interval, your credit card will automatically be billed and the funds will be routed immediately to the church's bank account. Processing credit cards at church has made it really easy and convenient for both the church and the church member when it comes to donating.It also makes it very easy to do church fundraising by accepting credit card gifts and donations at the fundraiser.

The next step in church credit card processing is to be able to pay tithing via the church's website. You would go to the church's website and click on a link to a webpage where you could provide your credit card billing information and your donation would be processed immediately.

This article was written by Todd Nelson, Marketing Director for Capital Merchant Solutions, Inc (HolyProcessing.com). CMS has been in the merchant account business for nearly 10 years, and offers free merchant accounts to both online and retail businesses. CMS also offers a unique program called "Automatic Tithing", which allows Churches to allow their members to automatically donate using their credit card or debit card. This article may be republished as long as absolutely no changes are made, and the resource box is included. Copyright 2007 - Capital merchant Solutions, Inc. - All rights reserved.