How to pay tithing online?

[robartsd]

As we have no clue when the new payment system will reach us, I would prefer to immediately inform those that are currently mailing checks to the bishop through bill pay. I don't suggest that those who are having bill pay checks mailed to their own homes be informed unless they continue to do so after the new system is availble (demonstrating that their bank's bill pay is prefered over the new system). Of course I will follow whatever decision the bishop makes with regards to sharing this information as his councilor.

For myself, I prefer consolidating managing my financial transactions in my bank's bill pay as much as possible. My concerns about this not being the church's preferred method have been resolved (it does not cost the church transaction fees or manual transaction processing) so I will use my preference of the methods approved by the church. I may also choose to share this information with friends and family as I deem appropriate.

[lajackson]

For myself, I prefer consolidating managing my financial transactions in my bank's bill pay as much as possible.

There are things the new Online Donation system will do that bank bill pay will not. With the Online Donation system you will be able to pay to a ward missionary fund, and your ACH transfer will be a single amount for the total, rather than having to set up a bill pay ACH transfer for each donation category.

Those are a few of the reasons I would switch to Online Donations when it becomes available in my neighborhood.

[aebrown]

There are things the new Online Donation system will do that bank bill pay will not.

... and there are things that the bank's bill pay system will do that the new Online Donation system will not. Most notable among those is recurring transactions. With Bill Pay, I can set up the recurring transactions and never touch it again until something needs to be changed. I hope that eventually the donation system will add that feature, but until it does, I will continue to use Bill Pay.

Personally, I plan to use both systems, leveraging the recurring capabilities of Bill Pay as much as I can, but also using the additional donation category options (specifically Ward Missionary) of the online donation system.

[robartsd]

Does anyone know if the new online system supports donations to the Ward Missionary fund of other wards (to support a family member who is not in the same area)? I could see a system where the member outside the area would get the unit number from the missionary's bishop and entering that in the online system (with the ward name being pulled up so that the member can verify that they got it right).

[scgallafent]

Does anyone know if the new online system supports donations to the Ward Missionary fund of other wards (to support a family member who is not in the same area)?

It does.

[lajackson]

... and there are things that the bank's bill pay system will do that the new Online Donation system will not. Most notable among those is recurring transactions.

Not only will the bank bill pay system let you make recurring transactions, but it will let you set a date in advance even for a single transaction. I can set up a payment for later in the week or month or whenever, and not have to wait until the exact payment date to enter the transaction.

I think that the traditionalist in me still shies away from putting donations on autopilot. I like the electronic part, but have never gotten into the recurring part, although I have no objection at all to the idea.

[robartsd]

I could see some concerns about recuring transactions - once you put it on autopay, do you remember to modify it when your income changes? However, I imagine that the new system doesn't do recuring or future transactions simply because they didn't want to delay rollout to add those features. Does the new system require the member to enter bank information every time or can the bank information be saved for future transactions? If they don't even retain bank information, then they only have to hold the data long enough to process the transaction - then they can delete the data reducing risk.

[aebrown]

I could see some concerns about recuring transactions - once you put it on autopay, do you remember to modify it when your income changes?

I certainly would. Making changes is clearly the responsibility of anyone who chooses to use recurring transactions; I see no problem with that.

Does the new system require the member to enter bank information every time or can the bank information be saved for future transactions? If they don't even retain bank information, then they only have to hold the data long enough to process the transaction - then they can delete the data reducing risk.

The new system allows a user to reuse an existing transaction, which includes amounts and categories and bank information, as a starting point for a new donation (see the Reuse This Donation section in the Online Donations help article).

[lajackson]

Does the new system require the member to enter bank information every time or can the bank information be saved for future transactions?

The Online Donation system is able to save bank information, even for multiple accounts.

According to the instructions, the first time you make an online donation, you will need to add a bank account. Later instructions tell how to edit the information, and even how to select between bank accounts if you have more than one saved.

[racquelrañeses]

Is it okay for tithing slip to be posted in social media if it’s for reference only. Thank you