Church credit card processing has emerged as a great way for churches to increase funds. Churches are following the leads of businesses who almost without exception accept credit cards as an efficient 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 increase funds to accomplish that purpose. Any method that increases the church's ability to generate funds should be used and church credit card processing does just that.

In the society of today it's normal for people to have many credit and debit cards in their wallets, many tend to carry little cash. If during the time of tithes and offerings, people don't have cash in their pockets, the church won't get as many donations. To fight this and make it easier for members to donate, church credit card processing has increased.

Church credit card processing can help churches raise funds in multiple ways. First, the church can give 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 commonly find themselves low on cash when the tithing plate comes around. The church also benefits because the more tithing 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 contributions. This is called "Automatic Tithing". Some like to give a smaller amount each week while some prefer to donate a larger lump sum annually.

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

The next logical advancement in church credit card processing is to be able to donate 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 monetary gift would be processed instantly.

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.