"God said give with a cheerful heart, not a tap to pay!" — Internet divided over viral clip of church using credit card machine during offering

A video of churchgoers using a credit card machine to make donations went viral on X on April 6, 2025. Posted by the X account @DailyLoud, the video received over 734K views and 6.5K likes as of this article; however, it remains unclear where or when the original video was filmed.

In the footage, churchgoers pass the credit card machine around, using their debit or credit cards or phones to make donations.

Several netizens expressed their distaste for people using credit card machines to make donations at church, with one user commenting:

"God said give with a cheerful heart, not a tap to pay!"

Others echoed this sentiment, claiming churches were "getting out of hand" and wondering if they charged a processing fee.

"If you don’t see a problem with this then YOU’RE the problem !!" one person exclaimed.

"I’m still gonna look forward like I don’t notice it," another person added.

"Don’t tell me they charge you the processing fee," someone else wrote.

"They're getting out of hand now man. My grams would be rolling in her grave," another user posted.

However, some saw the positive side of this method, adding that it was best to embrace technology to make things smoother in the future. More users mentioned that people rarely carry cash in today’s world, making digital payment appear more advantageous.

"We should embrace technology as the world shifts towards a cashless economy. People no longer come to church with cash, so having a credit card machine in church is not a bad idea," another person added.

"People don’t carry around checks and cash like they used to ….everything is digital and saved on our phones ,so what’s wrong with that?" someone else questioned.

"Idk why it’s the same as giving cash and this way it can actually be tracked. Also can’t be stolen from," another user posted.

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Churches in England and Ireland have adopted credit card machines for collecting donations

According to a Guardian article dated March 20, 2018, the Church of England introduced contactless payment to collect donations at over 16,000 cathedrals, churches, and other religious sites. The system was first tested in 40 Anglican churches in 2017 and implemented in March 2018.

Contactless payment options included credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, with the churches partnering with companies like iZettle and SumUp to create a system for digital payment.

In a statement at the time, John Preston, the Church of England's national stewardship officer, explained why the church chose contactless payment—

“There is a clear need for our parishes to introduce card and contactless facilities and we are excited to make this available. How we pay for things is changing fast, especially for younger churchgoers who no longer carry cash, and we want all generations to be able to make the most of their place of worship.”

In February 2019, the BBC reported that churches in Dublin were also considering switching to contactless payments to gather donations from their patrons. The Archdiocese of Dublin planned to "roll out card-based payments in the majority of parishes so people can pay for offerings and pilgrimages, as well as sign up for recurring contributions" after experiencing a decline in cash donations in recent years.