Salvation Army now taking credit card donations this holiday season

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Starting this year in Central Florida, the season of giving will sound a little bit different.

Along with change in the kettle, the Salvation Army will also take plastic, using a new device called a DipJar.

“You dip it in, pull it out, and you get this jackpot,” said Capt. Ken Chapman, demonstrating how the machine works. “You've won the jackpot of life by helping change someone's life.”

DipJars will be available at 60 collection spots in the Orlando area. 

The Salvation Army kettle has been a tradition for nearly 130 years, but with fewer people carrying around change these days, they've added the convenience of paying with your credit or debit card.

Jon Fraser, the DipJar company’s chief operation officer, said they've been working with the Salvation Army for the last three years and have about 700 devices around the country.

“We're a fairly young company and the Salvation Army was one of our early customers,” Fraser said.

Fraser said that the devices are secure, can't be hacked and your credit card data won't be compromised. 

So far, they've never had a case of someone stealing credit card information from one of their machines.

“If a volunteer gets a DipJar and they're using it to collect donations,” Fraser said, “it's next to impossible for them to redirect the funds that are going through that DipJar to their own account. It's all managed from the top down.”

The Salvation Army hopes the DipJars bring in another $50,000 on top of the $400,000 they aim to raise this season.