Salvation Army - why don’t they do this?

At a recent craft fair I wanted buy something g but didn't have enough cask. They'd no card reader. I asked why. The answer was something along the lines of needing a business card reader and it was too expensive.
Can there not be a charity card reader for registered charities eg Salvation Army?

I do use a card for supermarket and other shopping but also always have cash. The times we have been out with friends who somehow forgot their cards but have no cash, and we were able to pay are too numerous to mention.
I also pay cash to window and house cleaner and give some to grandchildren or people on the street.
We use cheques too for charities and again, Christmas or birthday gifts to gc.

I hid a £10 note behind my sun visor mirror, mine has a mirror with a little sliding door, when I was sliding the little door back last week the £10 note went with it! when I slid it back it had well and truly disappeared inside the sun visor mirror!! Means me now having to cut into the sun visor ( if I get so desperate) which I could well do

For those posters saying it's difficult for charities to get card readers, I can attest to the fact that it is.

I use a card for a lot of my purchases, but always use cash for Tesco…..

Allira

escaped

Can you imagine the collections in church, especially on the Sunday just gone, being by card reader?
It's quite common in the churches/cathedrals I attend. There's a fixed amount on the screen, you just tap the card on it if you're happy with that amount.

Good heavens!

I shall go and ask the vicar 😀
Certainly the baskets were going round on Sunday.
But the collection was not going to the Church, it was going to the Poppy Appeal.

In our church we have collection bags, standing orders and also a QR code, so no excuse for not contributing.
Our income from the collections alone, is about £5000 a week.

i always carry some change, usually pound coins and 50p pieces and keep a £20 note in my phone case, i had an accident out shopping, just minor but needed to get a taxi home, if anyone knows glasgow we have loads of black cabs, it was about a dozen i had to ask because they did not have a card reader, it cost to much to run. anybody can keep a bit of change, most handbags have a little zip pocket inside.

silverlining48

I do use a card for supermarket and other shopping but also always have cash. The times we have been out with friends who somehow forgot their cards but have no cash, and we were able to pay are too numerous to mention.
I also pay cash to window and house cleaner and give some to grandchildren or people on the street.
We use cheques too for charities and again, Christmas or birthday gifts to gc.

When a friend of ours had yet again ‘forgotten his wallet’ and had no cash, it was accidentally on purpose.

And no, he didn’t have dementia - he was just as shamelessly tight as they come.

OP, I volunteer for the Salvation Army and we are able to get card readers, although we have to use the ones provided by the SA. When we’re carol playing we use the card reader but the reader often gets too cold to operate once we’ve been out for a while!

Well, as I have said many a time, I live in Germany which is notorious for its suspicion of technology and where cash is still very much in use. I always have a couple of hundred €€ in my purse.

Most - not all - places will accept cards these days however, although some don't accept credit cards, just debit cards.

Charities don't do street collections.

Ever since I've lived here, (since 1975), the usual way to pay things has always been by bank transfer.

Charities advertise giving their account number. They provide preprinted transfer forms, leaving them on the counters in the bank, or send unsolicited mail giving their details,often including a free pen or calendar or some other knick knack.

In church, everyone has cash on them anyway so there is no problem with the Collect.

I've been knitting hats for the homeless. They're pull ons with different patterns, sizes and colours. I contacted our local Salvation Army and she texted me to bring them round to a hall in another town. I'd hoped she'd come and collect them as I'm not happy driving somewhere I don't know - and apparently the hall might not be open! So sadly I've given up and am trying to find somewhere else to take them. I can't walk up a long driver carrying a large bag so I'll have to find someone who can take them off me. I support the SA too but this officer is obviously too busy.

Athrawes You could contact Anglo Doorstep Collections. They are very good and I use them regularly ( does decluttering ever end?!🙄😆)

Https://anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk

I should have added that they offer a choice of about 3 charities, from which you can choose your preference.

Chardy, I have a business card reader that I use only for the occasional craft fair. It does charge me.
It charges 1% but I did have to buy the gadget at about £30.
It's less than 1% if you pay a fixed monthly fee.

I can't understand why you wouldn't have one to be honest.
If you are actually operating as a business (and pay tax) it will be deductible anyway as a legitimate expenditure.
Mine will also send receipts to the customer by email if they want one.

People will ask for cash more and more, I believe, as it need not go through the books, especially small businesses since the budget.

I always carry a card and some cash. For smallish amounts I just ask which is preferred. Very often it is cash.

Interesting, my complaint is the opposite... the charity collectors in my local Morrisons, my favorite shop, only have card readers and I don`t like that, I want a pop in tin for my cash!

Mine is a small business Boz - I like everything "through the books".

I find both are necessary. I mainly need the cash for the car park machine which has annoyingly stopped taking cards…. am not using apps for it on account of possible scamming.
Also, I find taxi drivers generally prefer cash although they often have readers. Even in London I usually find a notice up saying they prefer it.
I find some places are cash only, others card only so I reckon you need both though I mostly use my card.
I am gradually getting rid of my copper coins though, about time they were phased out and that silly £x.99p nonsense stopped.

I usually have a bit of small change in my coat pocket and a £5/£10 note in my phone case.

Let’s not lose cash altogether. It’s not hard to keep some handy. I like to have some coins for buskers, and also give the Big Issue sellers a pound for themselves, as opposed to buying the magazine. I appreciate that at least they are trying to do something other than sitting on the pavement.

Aldom

Allira

Can you imagine the collections in church, especially on the Sunday just gone, being by card reader?

They'd have to sing about six hymns to get round.

People were putting notes of various denominations into the baskets.

Our parish church uses a card reader.
The card reader is on the hymn book desk, near the entrance. Everyone uses the reader (if they don't Direct Debit) either before or after the service. Just a different system to the collection plate going round the church during a hymn.

A little friend told her mother when they saw the Vicar. “There's Jesus”. When asked why she said “We sing Hear the Pennie’s dropping listen as they fall, everyone for Jesus, he shall have them all. He ( The Vicar) gets the collection box. How would he cope with a card reader?

😁

WWJD?

Well, I suppose the collection boxes went round on Remembrance Sunday because the collection in church on that day goes to the RBL, not the church.

Kate1949

I never feel comfortable if I don't have a bit of cash in my purse. I'm not sure why. Old habits I suppose.

I need £1 coins for the cash machine. Doesn’t everyone? I don’t want to use a card for half an hour’s parking!