Donation terminals and payment terminals for a mosque

The basket collection remains an important moment, but fewer and fewer of the faithful carry change. So as not to let these donations slip away, many mosques install a way to take payment by card on site. Two families of tools exist, very different in price and in use. Here is how to tell them apart.

Al-Jazari, an engineer of the Jazira in the thirteenth century, filled his treatise with ingenious mechanisms, monumental clocks and water-driven automata, whose principles ran through the history of machines. Entrusting a repetitive gesture to a well-designed device is a very old ambition.

The observation: change is disappearing

A large majority of people no longer carry cash day to day. For a mosque, this shows in a basket collection that brings in less, not because generosity is falling, but because the means of giving is missing at the wanted moment. Offering contactless card payment answers this change of habit. Field feedback also shows that the average card donation often exceeds that of the coin collection, the donor no longer being limited by what they have in their pocket.

Two families of tools

To take a card donation on site, you have the choice between two approaches that do not play in the same category. On one side, the donation terminal, a standalone device designed specially for the collection. On the other, the mobile payment terminal, a small merchant's card reader, far cheaper but less suited to giving. The right choice depends on your attendance and your budget.

The dedicated donation terminal

A donation terminal is a floor-standing or wall-mounted device, with a touchscreen, a contactless reader that accepts the card as well as phone payments, an internet connection over 4G or wifi, and an online dashboard to track the collections. The donation is made in a few seconds, without cash. Above all, the terminal is designed for giving: it displays suggested amounts, presents your campaigns and projects on the screen, and, depending on the provider, invites the donor to leave their details to receive a tax receipt.

Several suppliers target places of worship specifically, with sober interfaces suited to the mosque and the possibility of distinguishing the causes, such as zakat, sadaqa, upkeep of the place or a building project. Among the players present in this niche, one can name Infaaq, Give Sadaqa, iChessed or ChariTouch. Some are installed in hundreds of mosques, pay the funds directly into the association's account and provide the SIM card for the connection.

• Its strengths: very smooth giving experience on site, high average donations, continuous collection with no presence required, issuing of the tax receipt depending on the provider when the donor leaves their details, a screen to communicate about your projects, real-time tracking of the collections.
• Its limits: a high purchase cost or rental, transaction fees on each donation, dependence on a supplier, and a device to install then maintain.

The mobile payment terminal

The mobile payment terminal is the small card reader used by travelling merchants. Players like SumUp, Zettle, Square or the French Smile&Pay offer a reader at a reduced price, of the order of a few tens of euros, with a commission of about 1.75 % per transaction, with no subscription or commitment. The sums taken arrive on your account in one to three days. A recent variant, phone payment, turns a recent iPhone into a terminal with no reader to buy: the donor brings their card near the phone.

• Its strengths: very low cost, set-up in a few minutes, total mobility, no commitment, ideal for occasional use or an event like Ramadan.
• Its limits: it is a payment tool, not a collection tool. It does not display suggested amounts, does not gather the donor's details and does not generate the tax receipt, which then has to be managed separately.

The QR code, the no-equipment option

A third route, with no device at all: displaying in the mosque a QR code that leads to your online collection page. It is free and simple to set up. The trade-off is friction: the donor must take out their phone, open the camera, load the page and enter their information. This extra step lowers the number of donations and their average amount compared to a terminal. The QR code remains a good complement, notably displayed next to a terminal or on your materials.

The decisive point: who takes what from your donations

Before comfort or design, this is probably the most important criterion, and the least looked at. Any card payment brings unavoidable bank fees: the payment network and the institution that processes the transaction take a small part, generally between a few tenths of a percent and close to two percent. That, no one can avoid. What really changes from one provider to another is what is added on top.

Two models coexist, and they do not have the same effect over time.

• By commission. The provider earns its money by taking a percentage on each donation, which is added to the bank fees. It is simple to start and needs little investment, but over time this percentage represents a sum that does not go to the mosque. On 50,000 euros of donations in the year, two points of commission is 1,000 euros that leave, and that will leave again the following year.
• By equipment. The mosque buys the terminal, then subscribes to a monthly plan for the payment device and the service, with no percentage taken by the provider on the donations. The collection then goes back entirely to the place, apart from the bank fees specific to card payment. This is the model of a player like Infaaq, where you buy the terminal, of the order of 1,300 to 1,600 euros before tax depending on the size, with a service subscription from about fifty euros a month, or where you rent it with no commitment. The initial investment is heavier than a commission, but on large volumes it works out far cheaper.

The right choice depends on the volume. For a small collection, a moderate commission can suffice and avoids tying up money in equipment. For a mosque that collects large sums, paying for the equipment once often works out far cheaper than giving up a percentage on each donation, year after year. Do the maths on the volume you aim for, and always ask, in black and white, what rate is taken on each donation and by whom.

The questions to ask before equipping yourself

Whatever the tool, ask the supplier the same questions before signing. They avoid nasty surprises.

• Do the funds arrive directly on the mosque's account, or do they pass through an intermediary, and with what delay?
• Is the tax receipt generated automatically, in the CERFA format in force, and with the donor's details?
• What is the real cost over a year, purchase or rental included, and what commission rate on each donation?
• Is there a commitment period, and what becomes of the service if you stop?
• Can the tool pass the donations to your donor-management software, to automate the tracking and the receipts?

The comparison at a glance

How to choose for a mosque

For a small mosque, a tight budget or an occasional need like a Ramadan collection, a mobile terminal or phone payment, completed by a QR code, covers the essentials for a few tens of euros. A dedicated terminal answers another use: it receives donations continuously, around the clock, without anyone having to man the till, where a terminal always assumes someone to take payment. For a busy mosque, it has become a reference tool, and well placed, at a footfall spot chosen with care, it often raises donations by the order of 20 to 30 %. The location is worked on as much as the choice of equipment.

Beware of the displayed price. A terminal cheap to buy can hide a high commission on each donation, which ends up weighing heavily over time. Conversely, paying for the terminal once to free yourself from the provider's commissions often works out cheaper over the long term, as soon as the donation volume justifies it. Look at the acquisition cost and the fees per donation together, over several years, not just the entry ticket. And before deciding, the safest thing remains to call or visit mosques already equipped: ask them about their equipment, their real fees and what they think of it, then form your own view. In every case, check the flow of the funds and the compliance of the tax receipts with the provider.

Linking the collection to your management

A terminal takes payment, but does not track your donors over time. To keep a clear view of who gives and issue the receipts with no re-entry, link your equipment to donor-management software. We discuss it in our comparison of donation and donor-management software, and for regular donations, in the one on the direct debit.

Frequently asked questions

To go further

This comparison is part of the Management & operation area. See also our guide organising donations and our guide on the tax receipt.

See all the management tools →