Donors can give through a bank transfer by adding their bank as a payment method. Stripe processes the donations and adds them to the Giving dashboard.
Caution
Bank donations are not available for Canada or New Zealand.
Giving and Stripe need to verify the ownership of a bank account before it can be used for donations. Verification confirms that the donor has access to the connected bank account, they've given permission to withdraw money, and they've connected the correct account.
There are two types of bank verification, both powered by Stripe:
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Instant Verification: Bank accounts are verified using the donor's login credentials for their bank's website. Most banks support instant verification, and there's no waiting time.
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Manual (Micro-Deposit) Verification: For banks that don't support instant verification, manual verification will verify the account using a $0.01 micro-deposit. This process generally takes 2-3 days since donors must verify the account by entering the SM-code attached to the micro-deposit they received.
Caution
If a donor receives an error while verifying a savings account, they may need to add a checking account instead.
To allow Australian donors to use direct debit, request access to the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS) Direct Debit in the Stripe settings.
Adding this new payment capability may trigger a new verification requirement for your Stripe account, like completing an ID verification or providing more details about your organization. These requirements may come through an email or an alert on the Stripe dashboard, and it's critical to complete them to avoid your Stripe account getting locked or rejected for non-compliance.
Notice
BECS Direct Debit transactions have a default limit of AUD 1,500 per transaction and AUD 4,500 per account per week. To request higher limits, contact Stripe Support.
Once you’ve enabled BECS Direct Debit on your account, the payment method appears on Church Center.
After a donor initiates a donation with a new bank account using manual micro-deposit verification, they will see the account added to their Payment Methods. The account will have an Unverified status beside it and cannot be used for donations until it's verified.
Admins can't initiate a bank verification, but they can view the verification status on a donor's profile. There are two possible verification statuses:
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Verified: The bank account has been verified, and the donor can use this as a payment method.
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Waiting for donor: The donor must complete the verification on Church Center.
Warning
Once the manual verification process is initiated, donors have ten days to enter the SM-code they received. If the verification process is not completed within this time frame, donors must delete the bank account and start the process again.
Bank donations typically take four business days to process from the time they are initiated to the time Stripe deposits them in your church's bank.
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The bank donation is given, securing a Received Date for the donation. Bank donations are initiated by the donor or by a recurring donation.
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The bank donation is marked In Transit while the donor's bank completes the charge. Bank donations take 2-4 business days to post as successful donations. Some banks add 2-3 business days if it's the first time the donor has initiated a bank donation through Giving.
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From here, the bank donation will either succeed or fail.
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If the donation succeeds, the In Transit status is removed.
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If the donation fails, the donor is notified via email, and the donation is marked as failed in the donor's account history.
Caution
Failed bank donations will incur a $1.05 fee from Stripe charged to your organization. The fee will appear under Non-Giving income in your payout reports.
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The donation is deposited to your church's bank. Stripe has a rolling two-day payout schedule, so a bank donation will remain with Stripe for another day or two before it's queued for a payout to your bank. It will take another 3-5 business days for a Stripe transfer to make its way to your church bank account.
Important
Bank donations start processing 120 minutes after they are initiated and are marked with an Awaiting Transit stamp. If a donor needs to cancel a bank donation within that timeframe, an administrator can cancel the donation before it's processed.