Dealing with payees who don't accept checks
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mcallaghan
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- Location: Celebration, FL, USA
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Dealing with payees who don't accept checks
I'm an Asst. Stake Clerk. I noticed while reviewing our stake financial report that one ward has a lot of Fast Offering payments to the same person, on behalf of a number of recipients. Digging a little deeper, it appears that the EQ Pres is paying other members' bills (with the approval of the bishop) and being reimbursed from FO. I asked my wife (our ward's RS Pres) whether our ward does that and she told me "not anymore." Apparently it was common with her predecessor whenever the payee doesn't accept checks. For example, a landlord who only wants to be paid with Venmo or a motel that only accepts credit cards. This feels incorrect to me, as it appears to break the paper trail, so to speak. Do we have a better way to handle this scenario? I presume that going forward, we'll see more of individuals and companies not taking checks.
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waltbristow
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- Location: Lynchburg, VA, USA
Re: Dealing with payees who don't accept checks
The Church Auditing Department tells me the Church is aware of this issue and is working on expanding the ability to pay businesses using electronic transfers. Hopefully it's high on the priority list.
As an assistant area auditor I have talked with a number of stakes about wards and branches not paying fast offerings directly to providers of goods and services. There are several things they have been able to do to stay in compliance with Church policies.
Frequently (in my experience), the reason the ward or branch doesn't pay directly is that the member has waited until the last minute to ask for help. That's a teaching issue. Reimbursement may be needed if the member has never received fast offering assistance. It should rarely happen a second time. When a member comes to the bishop with a disconnect notice, etc. it is usually because someone hasn't taught welfare principles or someone has ignored what they have been taught.
Food: Wards and branches are almost always able to set up an account with a local grocery store. They just have to talk with the store. I have not heard of any ward that isn't able to find a store that is willing to do this; this is not an uncommon situation for stores. A member of the Relief Society Presidency (or someone else the bishop or branch president authorizes) can then go to the store, buy the needed food, etc. and the store sends the unit a monthly statement. The unit reconciles the statement to identify the fast offering recipients and pays the store by check. If the unit is geographically large it may need to set up accounts with more than one store.
Hotels: Most hotels -- especially if they know the Church is paying the bill -- will set up an account. Again, you just have to ask. A conversation with the manager can also be a great opportunity to explain the Church's fast offering program. (It's also helpful, perhaps, to remind the manager that credit cards usually cost the hotel more than a check.)
Rent: Landlords, I have discovered, often don't want to accept checks because they are used to tenants bouncing checks. They say they won't accept checks but what they are really saying is, "I don't want to accept the risk of a bounced check." If they know the Church is the payor, they will usually make an "exception" to their rule.
Other fast offering payments. It is rare that other providers (utilities, medical, insurance, mortgages, phone, etc) will not accept a check. When I review audit and see a pattern of those kind of payments being reimbursed to individual members, it is my practice to remind the stake audit committee that the stake (1) may need to provide additional training to ward leaders and (2) it may want to review the monthly stake financial statement more carefully to identify wards that have multiple fast offering payments reimbursed to individuals.
Has anyone else had success with setting up accounts with providers?
As an assistant area auditor I have talked with a number of stakes about wards and branches not paying fast offerings directly to providers of goods and services. There are several things they have been able to do to stay in compliance with Church policies.
Frequently (in my experience), the reason the ward or branch doesn't pay directly is that the member has waited until the last minute to ask for help. That's a teaching issue. Reimbursement may be needed if the member has never received fast offering assistance. It should rarely happen a second time. When a member comes to the bishop with a disconnect notice, etc. it is usually because someone hasn't taught welfare principles or someone has ignored what they have been taught.
Food: Wards and branches are almost always able to set up an account with a local grocery store. They just have to talk with the store. I have not heard of any ward that isn't able to find a store that is willing to do this; this is not an uncommon situation for stores. A member of the Relief Society Presidency (or someone else the bishop or branch president authorizes) can then go to the store, buy the needed food, etc. and the store sends the unit a monthly statement. The unit reconciles the statement to identify the fast offering recipients and pays the store by check. If the unit is geographically large it may need to set up accounts with more than one store.
Hotels: Most hotels -- especially if they know the Church is paying the bill -- will set up an account. Again, you just have to ask. A conversation with the manager can also be a great opportunity to explain the Church's fast offering program. (It's also helpful, perhaps, to remind the manager that credit cards usually cost the hotel more than a check.)
Rent: Landlords, I have discovered, often don't want to accept checks because they are used to tenants bouncing checks. They say they won't accept checks but what they are really saying is, "I don't want to accept the risk of a bounced check." If they know the Church is the payor, they will usually make an "exception" to their rule.
Other fast offering payments. It is rare that other providers (utilities, medical, insurance, mortgages, phone, etc) will not accept a check. When I review audit and see a pattern of those kind of payments being reimbursed to individual members, it is my practice to remind the stake audit committee that the stake (1) may need to provide additional training to ward leaders and (2) it may want to review the monthly stake financial statement more carefully to identify wards that have multiple fast offering payments reimbursed to individuals.
Has anyone else had success with setting up accounts with providers?
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waltbristow
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- Location: Lynchburg, VA, USA
Re: Dealing with payees who don't accept checks
Oh, I forgot to mention that healthcare bills are negotiable. If a bishop or branch president (or a counselor or clerk) calls the doctor's office or hospital and explains that the Church (i.e. a charity) is willing to pay the bill but would like a discount, the Church will almost always get the discount. Doctors and hospitals have a 'rack rate' that is much, much higher than what insurance will pay. Ask for the discount!
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davesudweeks
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Re: Dealing with payees who don't accept checks
One other thing to keep in mind for those receiving "longer term" assistance. Some years ago, we had a member with significant health challenges who ran into trouble with their apartment because the Fast Offering fund was covering their rent for a number of months while they worked through the medical issues. The apartment management company threatened to evict them because THEY were not personally paying for the apartment (I think the company called it a violation of the rental agreement). Fortunately, it was worked out. Hopefully you will never have to deal with that scenario, but it's good to know it could happen so you can be prepared.
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mcallaghan
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Re: Dealing with payees who don't accept checks
I appreciate the replies so far. I've forwarded the info to my stake presidency for further review. Thanks a bunch!
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gkdyer
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Re: Dealing with payees who don't accept checks
We have similar issues here in the Detroit MI area, with welfare issues.
I saw somewhere that the Church has some kind of Credit or Debit Card system in place. I know the Missionaries use something like this in many parts of the world, and some Church employees or officials. Will they issue this to a Ward/Bishop? This would solve a clear line of accountability, and clear linkages, which would be better for audits.
Any feedback would be helpful.
Ward Clerk
I saw somewhere that the Church has some kind of Credit or Debit Card system in place. I know the Missionaries use something like this in many parts of the world, and some Church employees or officials. Will they issue this to a Ward/Bishop? This would solve a clear line of accountability, and clear linkages, which would be better for audits.
Any feedback would be helpful.
Ward Clerk