John's, Nfld., first set up a system for receiving regular pre-authorized payments electronically from its parishioners' bank accounts in the late 1990s, only 13 parishioners opted for it.
But responding effectively to changing times, say some specialists in church giving, is less about trying to keep up with technology for its own sake, and more about remembering a few key things--including the importance of enabling and encouraging pre-authorized payments.
Setting up a system for pre-authorized payments makes it easy for parishioners to give even when they can't make it to church, says Susan Graham-Walker, stewardship ministry associate at the Anglican Church of Canada's national office and manager of congregational giving and stewardship for the United Church of Canada.
o Earn additional points by signing up for
pre-authorized payments and e-bill, or adding services to their account including Optik TV or adding additional subscribers
It also launched SwitchAgent, an automated service that makes it easier for consumers who open a Texas Trust account to painlessly switch
pre-authorized payments and deposits from their old bank account(s).
Ten million times a day, Canadians withdraw cash from banking machines and use cheques, debit cards and
pre-authorized payments to make payments that result in one deposit-taking financial institution owing money to another.
SwitchAgent is the first automated service of its kind, developed to make it easier for consumers to transfer
pre-authorized payments and deposits, such as gym memberships, car loans, mortgages, utility bills, and Social Security and payroll deposits, from their old bank account to their new Texas Trust account.