What is Tap to Give?

How could it be used in my church?

Tap technology can be creatively used in church settings to enhance the experience of members and guests:

• Enable contactless mobile payments, donations and pledges through a simple tap.

• Provide tap access to campus maps, welcome messages, newsletters, and more.

• Share bulletins, programs, or inserts digitally.

• Share a list of upcoming events or sign-up forms for volunteering.

• Offer digital sign-in forms, surveys, Bible verses, worship streaming, and links to important messages.

How secure is this technology?

For concerns about data collection, security, or privacy with NFC, consult your IT professional. Generally, NFC is secure for payments due to multiple security layers, but precautions are advised as no wireless technology is completely immune to attacks.

• NFC's short range (typically 4 cm or less) makes remote signal interception difficult, reducing unauthorized access risks compared to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
• NFC transactions, especially mobile payments (e.g., Apple Pay, Google Pay), often use biometric encryption and tokens for data protection.
• Enhance security by sourcing NFC chips from reputable suppliers and ensuring referenced content is on secure websites ("https://"). Content on Refresh Websites meets these criteria.

How do I get started?

Recommendations from our experts

We're not going to lie...we've had a little fun experimenting with Tap to....well whatever! We'd love to explain the "why" behind our recommendations.

• Providing hints/tips for first time tappers – Many people will recognize and know how to use NFC technology. Still, it doesn't hurt to assist those that may not be sure about this new technology. Signs with simple messages such as "Tap Your Phone to Pay", or "Tap to View Today's Bulletin" can assist those who may not be quite sure how to use them. Initially, you may want to post helpers (like the youth group) near tags to assist guests in using the technology.

• Planning for non-compliant devices – While most phones have a built-in feature for NFC, some older phones may not. To avoid any challenges or poor experiences, you can include a QR code on the image you create for the tap device. QR codes have been around for a while and are recognizable. As part of our Innovation Lab, we offer a free QR code manager available at https://qr.kingdomcreations.ai/.

What are NFC-enabled devices?

Because of the simplicity and convenience of this technology, not to mention cost savings and sustainability advantages, the list of NFC-enabled smart devices expands daily.

Most modern Android phones are NFC-enabled. To see if your phone has NFC, go to your phone's settings and search for NFC. Be sure it's enabled. To scan NFC tags, tap the center back of your phone.

All iPhones using iOS 14 or newer can automatically read all kinds of NFC tags without the need to enable NFC or download third-party apps, including but not being limited to web addresses (URLs), emails, phone numbers, and SMS messages. Just tap the iPhone to an NFC-enabled device, or hold the top back of your iPhone close to the NFC tag. The iPhone reads the NFC tag and displays a notification on its screen.