Ensuring Donor Trust: Our Secure Payment Process Explained

Trust is central to the relationship between donors and charities. As one of Canada’s leading telefundraising agencies, we take seriously our responsibility to safeguard that trust when speaking with supporters. To ensure a secure donation experience, we use a credit card collection process with Secure Payment Assist (SPA), which meets the highest Payment Card Industry (PCI) standard for remote telefundraising. With this system, the fundraiser never hears or sees the donor’s payment information, protecting sensitive data at every step. By going beyond standard security practices, we deliver a level of protection that makes giving over the phone easy, worry-free, and, as always, impactful.

Credit Card Collection

Our credit card collection process takes place via Composer, a safe and secure method that uses SPA (Secure Payment Assist).

When your supporter is ready to make a donation, our agent will click on the First Donation tab in Composer.

After entering the Gift type, and amount, Composer will make the SPA option available to the agent.

At this time, the agent will collect the credit card type (Visa, Amex, etc), the supporter’s name (as it appears on the card), and enter them into Composer, then click on the SPA button.

Composer will display a page to the agent with a written outline of the SPA process. The agent will clearly explain the next steps to the supporter.

Once the agent has read out-loud the outline, and the supporter is ready to proceed, the agent will click on the Capture Payment button.

A recorded voice will instruct the supporter, in French or English depending on the program, to input their credit card information using the dial pad on the supporter’s phone.

The supporter will enter their credit card number and card expiration date followed by the pound (#) key. Consequently, the donation is made without the agent hearing or seeing the credit card information.

Once the supporter has input the credit card information successfully, Composer will notify the agent.

The supporter and the agent are then reconnected. The agent will confirm the gift with the supporter and thank them.

Compliance & Security

• Agents cannot see nor hear the credit card number using this method.
• The credit card number and expiry date are not stored in the recording.
• Agents must be in a secure, quiet location to protect donor info.
• Agents are not permitted to send financial information via chat, email or text.