Inbound card payments for volunteer club

T

Thirsty

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Volunteer club are looking to change from accepting cash / chq payments to having members use a card payment system.

They want to be able to accept payments on the spot, so to speak; not ask members to do bank transfers, which have to be constantly checked & followed up.

Paypal are looking for 2.9% transaction fees, which is steep for a charity; but at least they are open with pricing.

Anyone have recommendations?
 
For small volume, it's going to be around that number. SumUp is another option. 2.75% of value.

I assume you want to use a physical card reader rather than direct everyone online?

Many of the alternatives include a minimum monthly fee.
 
That pricing seems typical. Don't forget to value the convenience of not handling cash, chasing up payments etc.

What are your typical transaction amounts ? And how many of those a month?

Will your payments typically be with the cardholder physically present, or typically online?

If cardholder present, there will be some new "tap on phone" solutions coming out that allow higher end phones to be used as card terminals, without additional hardware. These will be subject to the €50 contactless limit, unless ApplePay, AndroidPay or some other xPay are used.

Revolut and N26 don't currently offer accounts to charities, but this may be a space to keep an eye on. If you and every payer had e.g. a Revolut account you'd get free instant payments and a realtime confirmation if they paid in front of you (just don't keep large balances in the likes of Revolut).
 
Thanks folks.

Ideally physical card reader; card holder present. Expect there will be some online transactions.

Using mobile phone sounds good, but €50 limit would be an issue.

Using Revolut would need all members to also have it & thats not something we can mandate.

Re transaction numbers - at a rough guess, there's bi-annual fees so say 200 transactions per year for that. And then perhaps another 100 transactions for event fees.

Do you have any more info on AndroidPay etc ?
 
PayPal have a charity rate of about 1.2% +35c
You do need a charity number, but it can be a connected entity.

Eg, most schools have charity status, so a club such as a past pupils union can use the school's charity number.

Other than that, sum up is the other option. Whilst it's 2.9%, it does save a lot of messing, having to do bank lodgement, and cash lodgement fees.
 
Didn't know that re paypal - thank you! Sounds like a useful option.

SumUp is coming in at 2.75% I think, I might ask if they have a charity / CSR rate.
 
SumUp now allows an invoice to be sent by email which the member pays on their phone. It's very straightforward, and dispenses with the card reader hassle. It can be used "face to face" anywhere there is a mobile signal but NB if your members are mainly older, they might have difficulty ensuring they have the SumUp app on their phone and that they can read email/click link. You'll know yourself if that is likely to be a problem.
 
Event payment via invoice / email will work I think.

Annual or bi-annual payments would be best with card reader.

If SumUp will do both, that might be the way to go.
 
Looking for anyone who has implemented SumUp in a similar voluntary organisation?
 
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