Church offertories have also gone digital.
Our Lady of Unity Parish in Parañaque adopted the use of a QR code generated by a mobile wallet app to collect donations.
In religious services, ushers would typically roam around with baskets attached to a rod to collect offertory.
Using Gcash, churchgoers may scan the QR codes attached to the benches to donate.
The Church goers may also scan the code that can be seen on their Facebook page and live stream, the parish said.
Some online users found this initiative innovative and convenient.
“Tried it na this morning after the 9 a.m. mass. Super convenient. Thanks, OLUP!” a Facebook user said.
“Pati si lord may Gcash na,” another wrote in jest.
Another church in Quezon City also digitized their offertory collection.
San Roque Parish now collects donations through Gcash, Robinsonsbank, Banco De Oro as announced on their live broadcast.
Aside from Gcash QR code and bank transfer options, those who are watching the live stream of San Roque Parish may also send Facebook Stars, a feature that allows users to monetize their stream.
Each star is equivalent to $0.01 or P0.59. ($1= P58.99; Figures from Google exchange rate)
In May 2020, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines set guidelines for conduct of religious services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on this, during the offertory, instead of passing baskets from person to person on each bench, the church may designate boxes or collection points where the faithfuls can place their contributions.
