Direct Deposit, Can anyone do this, and if so how?

I have read the Handbook section and I have a question about the following"

"In units where members make payments electronically (such as direct deposit or automatic bill pay), payments should be deposited in the Church’s bank account as instructed by Church headquarters or the assigned administrative office."

So, I had a member ask me if she could set up a direct deposit process for her tithing.

One of the Bishopric counselors mentioned the church only does this for those in the military and/or countries were traditional banking isn't found. Can anyone verify this?

Can members, her in the US, pay using direct deposit, and if so, what are the procedures?

joshbingham wrote:I have read the Handbook section and I have a question about the following"

"In units where members make payments electronically (such as direct deposit or automatic bill pay), payments should be deposited in the Church’s bank account as instructed by Church headquarters or the assigned administrative office."

The process described at that point in the Handbook applies to countries outside of the U.S. and Canada where members are not able to write checks. There is no provision at the present time for a member in the U.S. or Canada to donate electronically directly to a ward or branch.

Makes perfect sense. Thanks.

Hi there, we (Australia and probably New Zealand) are able to use a bpay system to deposit tithing and fast offerings directly into the church account. We generally send a message thru the message system in MLS and we receive a account number and reference number. We actually encourage members to use this system to reduce the amount of cash and cheques we have to handle weekly. Sorry you guys don't have a similar system in the US.

gshepher1967 wrote:(Australia and probably New Zealand) are able to use a bpay system to deposit tithing and fast offerings directly into the church account. . . .
Sorry you guys don't have a similar system in the US.

We anxiously anticipate the day when we will be able to do this in the U.S. I write checks to only one payee, the ward in which I live.

Just call the number or email them @ 801-240-2554 or 1-800-453-3860 ext 2-2554 or email donations@ldschurch.org [email works best]

Let the Church Donations Department direct you on this. If you sign up now your donations will be 'copied' to your local ward or you can ask that they be kept private.

johnshaw wrote:Let the Church Donations Department direct you on this.

Unless something has changed, this will not work for Ward Missionary Fund donations.

Interesting, I was never asked if I wanted to make my deposits "private." At tithing settlement time we can't find any record on the local machine through MLS. I need to bring in the statements that the church sends me.

SL gives me monthly statements, quarterly, and end of year. Tithing settlements in my local ward are done in December so I never have the end of year statement since it isn't emailed to me until January the following year. I have 2 separate account numbers, one for tithing and another for fast offerings.

Problem with the fast offering fund is that these funds are not available to the local stake, instead contributions electronically go to the main fund.

Is there a way to have church offices in SLC transmit my data back to my home ward for MLS to see it?

JeffTurgeon wrote:Is there a way to have church offices in SLC transmit my data back to my home ward for MLS to see it?

No.

JeffTurgeon wrote:I need to bring in the statements that the church sends me.

I'm not sure I see the need to bring in any statements. Your answer to the bishop's question, "Are you a full-tithe payer" doesn't change regardless of what statements you bring in, and I've never seen a bishop demand proof. It's essentially the same as if you've just moved into the ward. Having no record of donations in the ward is not the same as there being no donations at all.

Problem with the fast offering fund is that these funds are not available to the local stake, instead contributions electronically go to the main fund.

It's a common misconception that fast offerings remain in the ward/stake where they were collected. In truth, there is no link between funds collected in a stake and funds available to that stake to assist the needy.

allenjpl wrote:It's a common misconception that fast offerings remain in the ward/stake where they were collected. In truth, there is no link between funds collected in a stake and funds available to that stake to assist the needy.

While true, it appears that wards that write more checks than receive in donations tends to receive careful examination. Nothing wrong with that, but most leaders like to be below the radar.

russellhltn wrote:While true, it appears that wards that write more checks than receive in donations tends to receive careful examination. Nothing wrong with that, but most leaders like to be below the radar.

This is a local leadership quirk (though in my experience most have it) - There is a desire that a Stake or Ward be 'self sufficient' when it comes to FO, though I've not seen it in a handbook anywhere, usually this is taken as a sign of living sound financial practices. As a Ward and Stake clerk my reporting to Bishops and Stake Presidents ALWAYS contained something similar to the following:

"You can never really be sure about these numbers, some people donate directly to the church through direct deposit, stock transfers, estate planning etc... These numbers are not accurate to the degree they can be used definitively."

johnshaw wrote:There is a desire that a Stake or Ward be 'self sufficient' when it comes to FO, though I've not seen it in a handbook anywhere, usually this is taken as a sign of living sound financial practices.

You're certainly correct that there is nothing in any handbook that says a stake or ward needs to be self-sufficient in fast offerings. However, the stake bishops' welfare council does have a responsibility to review trends in fast offering contributions (HB 1, 5.3, paragraph 3). If a substantial portion of the fast offering contributions are made in a way that is invisible to that council, then it does create some challenges in fulfilling that responsibility.