Iconic Sydney church slammed for 'ludicrous' tap-and-go money collection

An Australian church has been slammed for introducing 'tap and go' collection plates.

Parishioners at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney can now use their debit cards to make paywave donations in seconds.

Founded in 1821, the iconic church was after ways to move into the 21st Century.

Following suggestions from churchgoers, payment terminals designed by EFTPOS provider Quest were installed and ready to be used during mass on Saturday evening (local time).

St Mary's general manager Helen Morassut said the church needed to make a change.

"We are just catching up to the rest of the world," she told Yahoo7 News.

"We always had callouts that people don't carry cash anymore. We're moving towards a cashless society - that's just the way we live now."

She says the terminals were well-received by the weekend's mass attendees - but many have expressed the opposite view on social media.

When St Mary's announced the change on Facebook last week, it received thousands of comments, many of them negative. That post was eventually deleted.

Many people claiming to be practising Catholics condemned the church's new paywave collection plates as greedy.

"As someone who was in the church for 16 years, I can safely say this was this most blatant display of money grubbing I have ever seen," one woman wrote.

"It's not moving with the times, it's a cash grab," said another.

Others took issue with the set payment of AUD$10 (NZ$11) per wave, saying parishioners should be able to choose how much they want to donate.

"I'm Catholic, but this is ludicrous," said one person. "You shouldn't be told how much you put in if you opt for that option, it should be built better so that you decide how much."

Ms Morassut told Yahoo7 News she was upset by the reaction of the "nay-sayers" to the attempt at modernisation.

She says the church determined that $10 was a reasonable amount for a donation based on how much people had given to collection plates in the past.

She couldn't confirm whether or not paywave would be rolled out at more churches.

Newshub.