Major Jennifer Velasquez, a 22-year veteran of the Salvation Army, became the leader of the local Salvation Army in Keokuk less than a year ago, and brings with her 21st Century Technology. It used to be, a person would exit a local shopping location and a bell ringer would be standing next to a red kettle for your bills or change. While there are still plenty of times the stations are manned with bell ringers, there’s now another way to donate.
They call it contactless donations. No longer does a donor need to make sure they have the right change or bills to make the donation they desired to make. There are flexible payment options and donors can use their mobile wallets or credit cards.
The Tip-Tap devices can accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express compatible cards. The three Tip-taps are $5. $10 and $20, what you see, is what you donate.
Now though, you have another option – Tap to Pay, (Donate). The battery powered devices are incapable of storing any donor information. They are not connected by any wires to another computer or information storage and retrieval system.
Canada has had the devices for years, the major explained, so there is a body of knowledge about the safety of the devices. In addition, the Salvation Army can look to see if donations were higher in one location versus another, or time of day or week, and use that info to know where they most need staffing. Velasquez also went on to disclose that she initially would show people how it works usin.
