Giorgetti to the Italian Bishops' Conference: Pos in parishes for offerings. Here are the churches where they are already installed (or experimenting with them)

Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti advocates the possibility of also making offerings in church using digital payments. Speaking at the Nexi event on services to the third sector, the minister recalled that abroad, offerings in church can normally be made with Pos, 'whereas in Italy, this is not very much in use'. In particular, it was explained to the minister 'that the parish must be registered with the third sector. So this is a signal that we are sending to the Italian Bishops' Conference, since they pinch us every now and then, to intensify this type of presence'. "We hope that the project will also be successful in the parishes," the minister added, sending a greeting to Cardinal Zuppi "with friendship".

The use of Pos for donations in churches is becoming increasingly widespread globally, although there is no complete and up-to-date list of all individual churches using it. The trend is clear: as the use of cash decreases, churches are adapting to facilitate donations from the faithful. Many churches in different parts of the world are implementing electronic payment systems, including POS, contactless terminals, online donations via websites or apps, and even interactive totems. This responds to the need to adapt to new payment habits and the preference for digital transactions.

On the recipient's side, adopting a POS simplifies the accounting and management of donations, reducing the need to manually count money and deposit cheques. In addition, it can increase the amount of money as people are more inclined to donate when they do not have cash on hand. A POS for digital donation payments was recently installed (next to the traditional cash box) at the Catholic Cathedral of St. Dionysius in central Athens, and several churches in Greece are starting to do the same. In the capital, the machine can accept donations with a maximum limit of 1,000 euros ($1,130).

Also in Italy, several dioceses and parishes have ongoing experiments for offerings. The diocese of Reggio Emilia and Guastalla has started a pilot project with totems equipped with POS readers. Churches in Chioggia, Cremona and other Italian cities have already introduced or are considering the introduction of digital payment systems. Around the world, there are several companies and platforms offering specific Pos solutions for churches and non-profit organisations, such as Tithe.ly, ChurchTrac, TouchPoint, Square, SumUp, Givt and Zeffy. The platforms often include additional features such as membership management, donation tracking and the possibility to set up recurring donations.