Transferring Scouting $ in the 21st Century

[evillama]

Does anybody know of a "scouting-friendly" internet company that does what PayPal does but without the 3% commission or at least cheaper?

 

We use SOAR for our websites (Pack and Troop) and their PayPal feature to collect funds for events and trips but apparently every transaction comes with a 3% overhead cost. Our Treasurer stated that PayPal will only discount for 501c3's which we are not?

 

So if I want to transfer $1000 to the troop from my bank account so a check to Philmont can be made from the Troop's account, that transaction will cost me an additional $30 just to PayPal? No thanks, I'll write a check. Was hoping to get the credit card points for discounts but the $30 negates that.

 

Is there another company out there?

 

ENV

 

[Krampus]

Does anybody know of a "scouting-friendly" internet company that does what PayPal does but without the 3% commission or at least cheaper?

If you link a bank account to PayPal you avoid the transaction fee.

[evillama]

Ah, that's right...but I guess no rewards points then. So basically no way to gain points without also paying the fee.

 

Thanks.

[Krampus]

Ah, that's right...but I guess no rewards points then. So basically no way to gain points without also paying the fee.

 

Thanks.

 

Correct. We ran in to the same issue. We encouraged our parents to pay small amounts via paypal (monthly camp fees) but to write checks for anything over (summer camp, high adventure). That way everyone avoided paying fees. This worked best for us. Folks tight on cash needed to use a credit card still had that option. We recovered those costs by charging a transaction fee back to the parent. Only a few had that issue. Most simply tied a bank account to paypal and avoided the charges.