Latest news with #Pushpay
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Pushpay targets church payment niche
This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. The payments company Pushpay has a clientele that makes it stand out from its industry peers. Rather than processing purchases for for-profit companies, the Redmond, Washington-based firm handles donations to faith-based non-profits. Pushpay CEO Kenny Wyatt explained this month how the Redmond, Washington-based company moved to the U.S. and settled on this niche customer base after being founded by New Zealanders Chris Heaslip and Eliot Crowther in 2011. Wyatt joined the company last year and became CEO last month. The vast majority of the company's customers are churches, he said. A Pushpay spokesperson declined to say what the company charges customers in monthly and transaction fees. In a May 9 interview, Wyatt noted that processing donations is different from handling other kinds of transactions, such as credit card purchases. The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. PAYMENTS DIVE: Tell me how Pushpay got started. KENNY WYATT: We were founded primarily as a payments provider focused on faith-based organizations as well as nonprofits, and we've continued to grow and move into more pieces of that category. Our church management system pairs churches with donations. We've also moved into streaming content, streaming media. We work with some of the largest churches in the United States. We serve about 15,000 churches preliminary across the U.S. Can you tell me a little bit about the history of your company? Our U.S. headquarters is here [in Redmond, Washington]. We were founded in New Zealand. The founders both came from New Zealand, but since the vast majority of our customers are here in the U.S., we consider the Great Northwest our home. Can you talk a bit more about the services you provide? I'll start with the software side. If you're an executive pastor for a church, what you care deeply about is connection. Who is walking through your front door, or who is watching you on a livestream? How do you create a connection? Sunday services, Wednesday services, running child check-ins, the volunteer schedule, the people database — organizing those things, that's the software piece of it. But the church all started around the congregants who walk in the front door [and donate to the church], and that's where the payments piece picks up. As they are in the service, or even outside of the service, they use the payments platform to process credit card donations or ACH donations. Do churches only see cash, credit card or ACH donations? Congregants can process crypto as well as other non-cash gifts [such as stock in a company]. Are stock and crypto donations common? It's a small total, but it does represent the largest gifts. We're seeing quite a few donations come through crypto. While it's a small percentage of total donation volume, it's multiples of cash or credit card gifts. How do you make money? The insights we can provide, people data, donation data, taking in the processes by which the church is operating and helping them do that better, that is worth something to them. [We charge] a monthly fee, and that gives them rich insights about their congregants. And then on the payments side, we are a payments business, so depending on the type of payment, we're collecting a very small fee. But it's making it much easier for the church to be able to collect donations and fund its ministry. Is processing donations different from processing payments for for-profit companies? The interface can be a bit different. If you're sitting at a service and there is a giving moment, there are multiple ways you can give. One is a recurring gift that you can set up on ACH or a credit card. One is a QR code, which is for new joiners or new congregants. Another is to be able to interact through a website or through a giving platform. We just launched Tap to Give [which lets congregants donate by tapping a button on a mobile app] a couple of weeks ago. Apple Pay has been adopted pretty heavily by many of our churches because of the ease of giving through the phone. There are a multitude of ways that congregants will engage that are different from swiping a credit card Recommended Reading BNPL growth prompts change from credit bureaus
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Faith meets fintech: How churches are betting on AI and crypto
Church leaders in the US are investing more in AI and other tech. Some churches are also leveraging cryptocurrency. Over 1,700 church leaders discussed how they view and use technology in a recent report. Don't have cash for the offering plate at church on Sunday? Just use bitcoin. Weaving bitcoin into the same conversation as Sunday service might seem odd, but it's now a reality for some churches in the United States, where church leaders are embracing modern technology. Last month, Pushpay, a financial services company for churches, published the 2025 State of Church Tech report. It surveyed over 1,700 church leaders across the United States from ministries of different sizes, denominations, and budgets. "The most tech-forward churches are starting to think of tech not just as operational or administrative. They see it as part of the mission," Gruia Pitigoi-Aron, PushPay's chief product officer, told Business Insider. Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and other fields have reshaped the global landscape, making such advancements impossible for industries to ignore. Churches are no different. The report said 45% of respondents now use artificial intelligence, an 80% jump from last year. Most church leaders use AI for communication-based tasks like writing content, editing, and generating graphic designs. However, 18% said they used it to develop sermons. Earlier this month, the newly elected Pope Leo XIV discussed AI during his first address to the College of Cardinals, saying it posed "new challenges." "In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labor," the first US-born pope said. Pitigoi-Aron said church leaders who leverage technology don't want to replace people or the human aspects of worship. Rather, it's meant to amplify their mission and create community. Livestreaming also proved to be a popular tech tool for church leaders during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report. Nearly 90% of surveyed church leaders said they live-streamed worship services or events. "Paul the Apostle took ships from place to place and told people about Jesus, right? Now you're livestreaming," Pitigoi-Aron said. Technology has also influenced how the church navigates donations. "Online giving continues to be the most popular digital solution among all churches — not surprising, considering 70% of leaders believe technology has increased generosity in their church. That proven impact is likely responsible for the fast-growing interest in accepting cryptocurrency and stock donations," the report said. Only 10% of surveyed church leaders said they're leveraging cryptocurrency, but 39% said it will become "strategically important to their church in the next two to three years." That's a 44% increase from 2024, but 62% of respondents said they "don't know" or "need to learn more" about the benefits of cryptocurrency. Pitigoi-Aron said non-traditional giving, like stocks and cryptocurrency, could be a "huge opportunity" for churches. In the digital age, where nearly everything is one click away, accepting new platforms can lower the barrier of entry for some congregants hoping to donate and connect. Similarly, some church leaders are now using QR codes. "Tangentially, QR codes are being utilized more than ever, often to drive community members and streaming viewers to next steps via a simple scan or tap," the report said. The increasing focus on modern technology isn't just talk for church leaders. Over half said they increased their tech budgets over the last two years. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Faith meets fintech: How churches are betting on AI and crypto
Church leaders in the US are investing more in AI and other tech. Some churches are also leveraging cryptocurrency. Over 1,700 church leaders discussed how they view and use technology in a recent report. Don't have cash for the offering plate at church on Sunday? Just use bitcoin. Weaving bitcoin into the same conversation as Sunday service might seem odd, but it's now a reality for some churches in the United States, where church leaders are embracing modern technology. Last month, Pushpay, a financial services company for churches, published the 2025 State of Church Tech report. It surveyed over 1,700 church leaders across the United States from ministries of different sizes, denominations, and budgets. "The most tech-forward churches are starting to think of tech not just as operational or administrative. They see it as part of the mission," Gruia Pitigoi-Aron, PushPay's chief product officer, told Business Insider. Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and other fields have reshaped the global landscape, making such advancements impossible for industries to ignore. Churches are no different. The report said 45% of respondents now use artificial intelligence, an 80% jump from last year. Most church leaders use AI for communication-based tasks like writing content, editing, and generating graphic designs. However, 18% said they used it to develop sermons. Earlier this month, the newly elected Pope Leo XIV discussed AI during his first address to the College of Cardinals, saying it posed "new challenges." "In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labor," the first US-born pope said. Pitigoi-Aron said church leaders who leverage technology don't want to replace people or the human aspects of worship. Rather, it's meant to amplify their mission and create community. Livestreaming also proved to be a popular tech tool for church leaders during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report. Nearly 90% of surveyed church leaders said they live-streamed worship services or events. "Paul the Apostle took ships from place to place and told people about Jesus, right? Now you're livestreaming," Pitigoi-Aron said. Technology has also influenced how the church navigates donations. "Online giving continues to be the most popular digital solution among all churches — not surprising, considering 70% of leaders believe technology has increased generosity in their church. That proven impact is likely responsible for the fast-growing interest in accepting cryptocurrency and stock donations," the report said. Only 10% of surveyed church leaders said they're leveraging cryptocurrency, but 39% said it will become "strategically important to their church in the next two to three years." That's a 44% increase from 2024, but 62% of respondents said they "don't know" or "need to learn more" about the benefits of cryptocurrency. Pitigoi-Aron said non-traditional giving, like stocks and cryptocurrency, could be a "huge opportunity" for churches. In the digital age, where nearly everything is one click away, accepting new platforms can lower the barrier of entry for some congregants hoping to donate and connect. Similarly, some church leaders are now using QR codes. "Tangentially, QR codes are being utilized more than ever, often to drive community members and streaming viewers to next steps via a simple scan or tap," the report said. The increasing focus on modern technology isn't just talk for church leaders. Over half said they increased their tech budgets over the last two years. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
25-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Faith meets fintech: How churches are betting on AI and crypto
Weaving bitcoin into the same conversation as Sunday service might seem odd, but it's now a reality for some churches in the United States, where church leaders are embracing modern technology. Last month, Pushpay, a financial services company for churches, published the 2025 State of Church Tech report. It surveyed over 1,700 church leaders across the United States from ministries of different sizes, denominations, and budgets. "The most tech-forward churches are starting to think of tech not just as operational or administrative. They see it as part of the mission," Gruia Pitigoi-Aron, PushPay's chief product officer, told Business Insider. Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and other fields have reshaped the global landscape, making such advancements impossible for industries to ignore. Churches are no different. The report said 45% of respondents now use artificial intelligence, an 80% jump from last year. Most church leaders use AIfor communication-based tasks like writing content, editing, and generating graphic designs. However, 18% said they used it to develop sermons. Earlier this month, the newly elected Pope Leo XIV discussed AI during his first address to the College of Cardinals, saying it posed "new challenges." "In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labor," the first US-born pope said. Pitigoi-Aron said church leaders who leverage technology don't want to replace people or thehuman aspects of worship. Rather, it's meant to amplify their mission and create community. Livestreaming also proved to be a popular tech tool for church leaders during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report. Nearly 90% of surveyed church leaders said they live-streamed worship services or events. "Paul the Apostle took ships from place to place and told people about Jesus, right? Now you're livestreaming," Pitigoi-Aron said. Technology has also influenced how the church navigates donations. "Online giving continues to be the most popular digital solution among all churches — not surprising, considering 70% of leaders believe technology has increased generosity in their church. That proven impact is likely responsible for the fast-growing interest in accepting cryptocurrency and stock donations," the report said. Only 10% of surveyed church leaders said they're leveraging cryptocurrency, but 39% said it will become "strategically important to their church in the next two to three years." That's a 44% increase from 2024, but 62% of respondents said they "don't know" or "need to learn more" about the benefits of cryptocurrency. Pitigoi-Aron said non-traditional giving, like stocks and cryptocurrency, could be a "huge opportunity" for churches. In the digital age, where nearly everything is one click away, accepting new platforms can lower the barrier of entry for some congregants hoping to donate and connect. Similarly, some church leaders are now using QR codes.
Business Insider
25-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Faith meets fintech: How churches are betting on AI and crypto
Don't have cash for the offering plate at church on Sunday? Just use bitcoin. Weaving bitcoin into the same conversation as Sunday service might seem odd, but it's now a reality for some churches in the United States, where church leaders are embracing modern technology. Last month, Pushpay, a financial services company for churches, published the 2025 State of Church Tech report. It surveyed over 1,700 church leaders across the United States from ministries of different sizes, denominations, and budgets. "The most tech-forward churches are starting to think of tech not just as operational or administrative. They see it as part of the mission," Gruia Pitigoi-Aron, PushPay's chief product officer, told Business Insider. Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and other fields have reshaped the global landscape, making such advancements impossible for industries to ignore. Churches are no different. The report said 45% of respondents now use artificial intelligence, an 80% jump from last year. Most church leaders use AI for communication-based tasks like writing content, editing, and generating graphic designs. However, 18% said they used it to develop sermons. Earlier this month, the newly elected Pope Leo XIV discussed AI during his first address to the College of Cardinals, saying it posed "new challenges." "In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labor," the first US-born pope said. Pitigoi-Aron said church leaders who leverage technology don't want to replace people or the human aspects of worship. Rather, it's meant to amplify their mission and create community. Livestreaming also proved to be a popular tech tool for church leaders during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report. Nearly 90% of surveyed church leaders said they live-streamed worship services or events. "Paul the Apostle took ships from place to place and told people about Jesus, right? Now you're livestreaming," Pitigoi-Aron said. Technology has also influenced how the church navigates donations. "Online giving continues to be the most popular digital solution among all churches — not surprising, considering 70% of leaders believe technology has increased generosity in their church. That proven impact is likely responsible for the fast-growing interest in accepting cryptocurrency and stock donations," the report said. Only 10% of surveyed church leaders said they're leveraging cryptocurrency, but 39% said it will become "strategically important to their church in the next two to three years." That's a 44% increase from 2024, but 62% of respondents said they "don't know" or "need to learn more" about the benefits of cryptocurrency. Pitigoi-Aron said non-traditional giving, like stocks and cryptocurrency, could be a "huge opportunity" for churches. In the digital age, where nearly everything is one click away, accepting new platforms can lower the barrier of entry for some congregants hoping to donate and connect. Similarly, some church leaders are now using QR codes. "Tangentially, QR codes are being utilized more than ever, often to drive community members and streaming viewers to next steps via a simple scan or tap," the report said. The increasing focus on modern technology isn't just talk for church leaders. Over half said they increased their tech budgets over the last two years.
