A volunteer walks through the pews at a mass in the Vatican with a collection box in hand. So far, everything normal. Except the collection box has a POS reader attached on top. 💳
It was Paraguayan journalist Mónica Fabiola Ayala, a resident of Rome, who recorded the moment and posted it on her social media. The video shows how the new system works during a real liturgical ceremony: the faithful simply tap their chip card or use contactless payment, and that’s it — the donation is recorded without touching a single bill. No digging for coins in your pocket or letting the collection plate pass by out of embarrassment.
The Vatican, one of the oldest institutions in the world, decided that the collection also deserves an update. And it makes sense: in an era when fewer and fewer people carry cash, modernizing the way contributions are received is, at its core, a practical decision. The lingering question is how many churches in the rest of the world will follow that path. ⛪💡