Contents
Types
of
Cards Accepted
Accepting
ATM,
Debit & Credit Cards
How
to Log in
How
to Submit
a Donation
Required
Documentation
Record
Keeping
How
to check on
your account
Correcting
Errors
Refunds
Disputed
Charges
and Charge Backs
Security
Issues
Prohibited
Acts
How
to add a user
Make
changes
to your account
Membership
Renewal
and Termination
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User’s Guide for Churches
Types of Cards Accepted
Presently only
ATM and debit cards with the VISA and MasterCard logo are
accepted. As the use of ATM and debit cards become more standardized and
universal, we will expand our acceptance to other cards.
Currently
only credit cards issued by VISA, MasterCard, Discover and
American Express are accepted.
Accepting ATM, Debit and Credit Cards
There
are four options:
- The
most secure is to inspect each card the first time it is
presented for a donation. Each member who desires to make a donation
to your church via their ATM, debit or credit card would establish their intent by
completing the Electronic Donation Payment Authorization
and presenting the card they wish to be debited or charged. It is important on the initial donation to verify the name on
the card and the expiration date, and perhaps make a photocopy of
the card for the record. This
would be comparable to taking an imprint of the card. This
is not a mandatory step, but it is a sound precautionary one.
It establishes that the card was inspected and present.
This step minimizes potential future problems if questions
arise. This is also a good time to discuss the manner in which
your church member chooses to use their card.
Do they desire to make a one-time donation or to perhaps make
regular or reoccurring donations on their card. A copy of the pamphlet Responsible Stewardship could
also be given to them to review.
- The
easier but much less secure option is to skip the card
inspection, and just have your members or visitors complete the Electronic
Donation Payment Authorization form and put it in the
offering plate. Copies of the
pamphlet Responsible Stewardship could be readily available in the
literature rack in the lobby.
If you choose this option, you will also make it easier for
someone to inappropriately make a credit card donation. If the
cardholder complains afterward and a chargeback occurs, you will be
responsible for additional costs of the chargeback if you do not
have a properly completed and signed payment authorization form.
- Online
donations by the cardholder. Those who are not physically
present, forgot their cash or check, or who just prefer electronic
payments, can make a donation at any time by submitting it
themselves online at MyChurchDonations.com. The process is very
easy. The donor clicks on the Make a Donation green graphic
or Online Donation by Cardholder text link that are on the
entry or home page, then completes and submits the Make an Online
Donation form. An e-mail notification of the donation will
automatically be sent to the church.
- Mail-in
Electronic Payments by the cardholder. Similar to the online
donations by the cardholder, except the mail-in form is completed by
hand, signed and sent to the church by U.S. Postal Mail or other
means. The mail-in form can be obtained by printing it directly off
MyChurchDonations Website, or the church could print a supply and
make them available.
How to Log in
Password
Log in.
Enter your User Name and Password, and then click on the Enter button,
you will be taken to the Account Summary and Submit Charges page.
Lost
Passwords.
If you don't enter the correct password, you will get an error page with
a link to the password recovery system. Enter the information requested
and your password will be emailed to you.
How To Submit an Electronic Donation
- If
you choose to inspect the ATM, debit or credit card. The signature on the back of
the card should match the name embossed on the front of the card.
Note the expiration date.
- Make
sure the Electronic Donation Payment Authorization form
has been completed properly and signed by the cardholder. If you
physically inspect the card, make sure the signature on the back of the card matches the
signature you get on the consent form.
- Enter
all the requested information on the Submit Charges page, and then
click on the Submit Charges Now button.
How to know if the submitted
donation was
Accepted or Denied
Within
a few seconds after submitting the charge, the donor’s card will be
verified and debited or charged, and a message will be sent to your screen
indicating whether it was accepted or rejected. You can check on
previously submitted donations by going to your Account History page.
Required Documentation
Donation Authorization Form
It
is mandatory that you have signed authorizations for every donation that
you submit. We prepared the Electronic Donation Payment
Authorization form for your use; print out a
supply. Prior to submitting
an electronic ATM, debit or credit card donation you need to obtain the signed
Electronic Donation Payment Authorization form, unless
your donor has authorized you to submit reoccurring donations and your
submission of donation charges are within the amount and time limits
indicated. Give your donor a copy so he/she will have a record of what
was authorized, and will be less likely to question or dispute a debit
to their account or a credit card charge.
Warning!
The following
statement must be on the signed authorization form
"Charges
will appear on your monthly card statement as MyChurchDonations.com."
The statement will be needed if there is ever a charge back
investigation.
Receipts
It
is also mandatory that you give a receipt to your donor for every
donation or credit refund that you submit. You can give the donor a receipt at
the time of every charge, or a monthly, semimonthly or weekly receipt,
depending on your church procedures.
However, do not let more than a month go by without giving your
donor a receipt.
For
your convenience you can have a receipt prepared for you when you submit
the donation. If you would like a receipt, print out a copy of the confirmation page that you get immediately after submitting
a donation, and use the printed copy as a receipt.
You
can also use your church's own printed statement or letterhead for the required
receipt. The following items must be on the receipt:
- Name
and address of your church.
- Cardholder’s
name as it appears on the card.
- Name
of donor if different than cardholder.
- Type
of card, VISA or MasterCard, or Discover.
- Card number.
- Card’s
expiration date.
- Date
of transaction.
- Transaction
type.
- Brief
description of donation.
- Total
amount of transaction.
- The
statement "Charges
will appear on your monthly card statement as MyChurchDonations.com."
Record Keeping
The
card associations require the authorization forms and receipts to be
kept for a minimum of 3 years. Keep
them confidential, secure and available to you so that you could send us
a copy within 24 hours of a request for information. If a card holder or
donor questions a charge, a copy of the signed authorization will be
needed to prevent a charge back. If
a charge back occurs without a request for information, you have 3 days
to provide documentation to defend your submitted charges.
How To Check on Submitted
Donations and Your
Account
You
will find an itemized listing of recent donations you have submitted in
the Recent Account Activity section on the Submit Charges page. It will
show the date of the charge, the name, amount, approval status, date the
funds are deposited in the church's account, the total deposited, and
the reason for any adjustments.
The
Account History page shows the above information, as well as the
transaction number that was assigned by the card processor, the first
and last four digits on the card number, and the expiration date. You
can retrieve information on all previously submitted transaction from
the Account History page.
Correcting Errors
If
you made a mistake and entered the wrong amount, or charged the wrong
donor and the submitted charge was approved, it is too late to void the
transaction. You must correct this kind of mistake by submitting a
credit refund. Once
the credit refund has been arranged or issued, notify the donor or cardholder
of the error and of your credit refund. The usual transaction fees will
apply.
Refunds
If
you submitted a charge and made a mistake, and need to give your donor a
refund, go to the either Recent Account Activity section or the Account
History page, find the transaction you
wish to refund, and then click on the Refund link and follow the
instructions.
A
refund can only be issued for a charge that was submitted and approved.
The usual transaction charges apply. The refunded amount and the
transaction charges will be withdrawn from your bank account and put
back in the cardholder's account. In the
event that there are “non-sufficient funds” in your bank account to
cover the refund, you will be assessed an additional “non-sufficient funds”
charge of $10.00.
Give
or send your donor a receipt for the refund.
Disputed Charges and Charge Backs
When
a church (or any merchant) accepts credit cards, the funds are deposited
directly into the church’s account usually before the cardholder
receives the credit card billing statement. If the cardholder disputes
the charges and the church cannot prove that the charges are valid, the
charges are “charged back” to the church, and the funds are
withdrawn from the church’s account.
There
are several reasons why a legitimate charge could honestly be questioned
by your donors. The charge will be itemized on their credit card
statement and listed only as MyChurchDonation along with the dollar
amount. Your donor may not remember that this is for your church.
Another reason could be that the donor forgot the amount he/she
authorized and it does not seem correct to him/her, or you may have
simply made a typographical error when you submitted the charge. These
types of disputed charges should be easy to resolve. In most cases when
the donor is reminded, he/she will acknowledge the validity of the
charge.
The
critical factor in being able to resolve these disputes is a timely
response to requests for information. When your donor questions a
charge, the processing bank will contact MyChurchDonations and request
information and validating documentation. We will immediately inform you
about the disputed charge. The resolution may be as simple as, the
church secretary or treasure reminding the donor about the charge and
having the donor contact the bank issuing the card and acknowledge the
validity of the charge. In the event that the cardholder or donor cannot
be contacted or will not validate the charge, it will be necessary for
you to provide a copy of the authorization and receipt to us so we could
“defend” the charges for you. This should resolve most of these
disputes.
If
any of your charges are ever disputed, we will need your involvement to
be able to resolve it. If you do not respond, the dispute will result in
a charge back. You need to
respond within 24 hours on a request for information and within 3 days
for an issued charge back.
Security Issues
Protecting
against charge backs.
The
charge back process is expensive for the Card Associations processing
the transaction, and your church will be charged a penalty for each
charge back. Excessive charge backs can result in the loss of the
ability to accept credit cards, and very large fines. You are
responsible for the costs of any charge backs you may have. In addition
to returning the funds, one charge back will cost you $30.00. Several
charge backs might result in an additional penalty. This is out of our
control.
Make
an extra effort to avoid charge backs. Always obtain the proper
authorization before submitting credit card charges. Be careful and
accurate when you are entering the data in the submit charges form. Make
sure the information on the signed authorization is clear and legible.
Store the original authorizations in a manner permitting retrieval of
legible copies within one business day of receiving a request from
MyChurchDonations. The
receipt that you give or send to your donor will be a reminder, and will
prevent some from questioning the charge.
Protecting
Donors’ ATM, Debit and Credit Card Information.
Donors’
ATM, debit and credit card information must be kept secure and confidential, as is all
donor information. Don’t overlook your responsibility of also making
reasonable efforts to protect the information you have about donors on
your hard disk in your computer. Ensure that donor data is stored in a
protected directory with access requiring the proper identification.
Don’t use passwords that would be easy for someone to guess or figure
out, or write them down where someone could easily find them. Make sure
your shields are up, and keep your virus protection, firewalls and other
protections current. Whenever your computer is connected to the
Internet, it is vulnerable to being scanned. As of this writing you can
check the security of your computer’s connection to the Internet by
logging on to the Website of Gibson Research Corporation. You can find
it at http://grc.com/default.htm.
Prohibited Acts
- Do
not submit a charge unless you have obtained a signed authorization
from the cardholder or authorized user of the card for the charge
you submit.
- Do
not submit a charge if the embossed name on the card does not match
the signature on the back, if you suspect the card is stolen or is a
fraud.
- Do
not submit a charge that is outside the time period or dollar amount
on the signed authorization.
- Do
not submit a charge for another church or organization.
- Do
not submit a charge for the donor for the purpose of giving cash
back to the donor.
- Do
not submit a duplicate charge of a previously submitted charge that
has been approved.
- Do
not submit a charge in order to get reimbursed for the costs of an
unfair charge back.
- Do
not submit a credit refund for more than the originally submitted
charge.
- Do
not accept a credit card that appears to have been tampered with or
altered.
Signage: Letting Your Members Know You Accept
Credit Cards
Make
it easy for your members and donors to know that they can use their ATM,
debit and credit cards using an appropriate sign or logo in your
treasurer’s office, on your web site, or on printed material outlining
your stewardship program. You
can easily obtain the appropriate VISA or MastCard sign or logo directly from VISA or
MasterCard by visiting their Websites and finding their business
products or banding pages. At the time of this writing the URLs are:
http://www.mastercard.com/business/brand/decals.html, and http://www.visabrc.com/doc.phtml?7,0,290.
How to Add a New User and make Changes to your
Account Information
Whenever
there is a change in any of the information you gave us when you
registered and became a member, log on to MyChurchDonations and update
your membership information. This is easily accomplished by clicking on
the Edit Church Information link in the Protected Area. Make the
appropriate changes to the Identifying and Contact Information,
and the Bank Account Information, and click on the Update
Information button at the bottom of the page. To change your User
Name, Password or Email Address, click on the link, make the changes
in the form and click on the Record Changes button.
Add another authorized user by clicking on the link, completing
the form and clicking on the Add New User button.
Bank
Account Changes are more complicated. We also need a voided copy of a
check from your new account, and a new authorization for EFT. Print out
the Authorization for Electronic Funds Transfer and Acceptance of Church Obligations form, fill in the new
information, sign it, and send it to us, by FAX or US Mail. You will
still be able to accept credit card payments from your donors and submit
charges, but we will not be able to deposit the funds into your new
account until we have received the signed authorization form. We will
promptly notify you by email when the changes have been implemented.
Membership Renewal and Termination
Your
church’s membership will be renewed automatically every 12 months
unless your membership has been terminated. We will also automatically
withdraw the membership fee from your bank account.
Notify
us if you wish to terminate your membership. If you do not notify us, at
the end of your membership year a membership renewal charge will be made
automatically. Don’t forget that if you have submitted charges in the
preceding 12 months you are required to maintain enough funds in your
bank account to cover all possible charge backs or refunds until all
charge back rights have expired and all accounts are settled.
Final Reminder
You acknowledge and accept the terms of the Donor
Agreement for you
to receive donations from Donor Members and authorize them to register
to give donations into your account. The Donor
Agreement may be changed or updated from time to time.
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