Bank Account

[michaeljeffreyjones]

Unfortunately this has been done and the only answer we get is "Oh we have hundreds of calls regarding this problem and members should keep on trying, not a very satisfactory answer. Rather I would be saying sorry there is a problem and we are trying to sort it . All we want is clarity which is not what members are getting just like lockdown in the uk. Surely a senior member in charge of this system with his team, not letting a sisterbrother on the end of the phone dealing with it

[russellhltn]

Unfortunately, all you have here is user-to-user support. Your better bet is to go back to Area Office and work your way past the front line service missionaries.

[michaeljeffreyjones]

I have to no avail-so we shall wait for many more months until this matter is resolved-it just means that the church will be in the short term will be missing many millions of £'s.

[jdlessley]

There are other methods to make donations other than the online method until the issue is resolved.

[Biggles]

There are other methods to make donations other than the online method until the issue is resolved.

Please tell us what other methods there are?
Bare in mind that the UK has only just gone to online donations and our options are very limited. We have yet to start sacrament meetings, as unlike the US, lockdown rules have been a lot tougher and also in force for a longer time.

[russellhltn]

I have to no avail-so we shall wait for many more months until this matter is resolved-it just means that the church will be in the short term will be missing many millions of £'s.

The other alternative is to report it to your bishop to talk to the stake president and on up the line of priesthood authority.

[jdlessley]

There are other methods to make donations other than the online method until the issue is resolved.

Please tell us what other methods there are?

Paper slip, normally a Tithes and Other Offerings slip, in an envelope with a check or cash handed to a member of the bishopric or mailed to the bishop is one. What method was used before the online donation method was rolled out? Were there not other methods available in addition to the paper slip in a donation envelope being used? Have those methods been terminated?

Bare in mind that the UK has only just gone to online donations and our options are very limited. We have yet to start sacrament meetings, as unlike the US, lockdown rules have been a lot tougher and also in force for a longer time.

I am aware of that. My response may have appeared to be curt and insensitive but that was not my intention and I apologize if it appeared that way. My intent was to dispel the notion that the online donation method is the singular method to make donations. I was also thinking of those in times past who had to save their tithes and offerings for years before having the privilege to present them.

[Biggles]

No offence was taken.
However in the UK there are very strict social distancing rules. This means that even if a a donation is given to a bishopric member, the donation can’t be processed as it requires two bishopric members to authorise the batch in MLS!

[lajackson]

In my area I have gone 15 weeks without church now. And I fully expect it will be at least three or four more months before we will be able to meet together again. At first, as a ministering brother I could not even take the sacrament to any of the single sisters. There are areas where that is still true. My heart aches for them. They are struggling to be faithful.

These are extraordinary times.

After about a month, some of the bishoprics in our stake have sent two of their members to the meetinghouse and processed donations. They have been able to do it in compliance with local social distancing rules, with face coverings, six feet apart, but still in the same room following the two-person principle as best they can under the circumstances.

I know when they do it because I am the stake technology specialist. They call because they do not know how to retrieve their forgotten passwords. They call because the administrative computers do not seem to be running properly. There recently has been a large Sophos security update. There have been Windows updates. Computers that have not been turned on in over a month need to be coaxed through those changes, virus scans, and other internal housekeeping. On top of the pandemic frustrations, while the always slow computers choke through these untimely changes, patience is in short supply.

There was a time and place in my life when there were no processes in place where I could pay tithing. So I regularly wrote a check, placed it in an envelope with others, and kept them safe until I was able to present them to a member of the bishopric. Even a person who pays tithing once a year at tithing settlement is still a full tithe payer.

It sounds as if the UK is going through some of the sames pains we went through in the U.S. as online donations began a number of years ago. All I can suggest is that the instructions be carefully followed. Sometimes it is the bank or the bank account that is the problem. Some banks use different clearinghouse numbers for electronic transfers than they do for regular checks. Sometimes the bank has to authorize the first transfer. At some banks, certain accounts will allow transfers and other accounts will not. This is all part of the learning process.

An overloaded server will certainly cause challenges. If there are bugs in the system, I am certain the area office is working them as quickly as they are able.

Communicate where possible. Continue to let your clerk (and through him the area office) know when things do not work. Check with the bank if indications are that a transfer problem may be at their receiving end of the request. Patiently ask for help. Expect that it may still take some time before the process works smoothly.

And as painful as it is for me to say, after some serious unsuccessful attempts, this is a case where there is some advantage to beginning afresh, with a newly restarted computer or laptop, slowly working through the website with exactness, perhaps at a time in the early morning hours when the server can pay its full attention to you and your request.

In the meantime, keep that envelope handy.

[russellhltn]

There was a time and place in my life when there were no processes in place where I could pay tithing. So I regularly wrote a check, placed it in an envelope with others, and kept them safe until I was able to present them to a member of the bishopric.

Which works well if you're the type that keeps a running balance in your check register. It doesn't work so well if you are the type that monitors the account balance with an app. In that situation, you'd need some other trick to hide the money from yourself.