Why do you need my Social Security Number?

RebelGive offers the lowest card transaction fees compared to any other online giving platform at 1.9%, no matter what card is used. In order to make this happen (especially for cards like Amex), churches need to set up a merchant account with our card processor. Otherwise, donors will be charged whatever the normal per-transaction fees are associated with the card they're using.

Now, even though that merchant account is associated with your church as a non-profit entity, there still needs to be a real human being on the other side of that merchant account - namely the Account Owner of your RebelGive account. Our card processor (CardConnect) is required by law to verify a person’s identity when creating a merchant account. As part of KYC (Know Your Customer) federal regulations, all banks and financial institutions legally need to confirm the identity of who’s opening an account (in RebelGive’s case, a merchant account), in order to ensure any money associated with that account isn’t being used for any sort of illegal activity. (For more information on KYC, click here.) Personal information, such as a person’s date of birth and SSN (SIN for Canadian churches) is necessary for that verification process. But don’t worry! Though an SSN is required, there won’t be a hard pull on that person’s credit. As previously stated, it’s only used for basic identity verification.

As far as any application information goes - SSNs included - it’s all securely submitted to our card processor, which has the same level of security that all major banks have. And just in case you have this question floating around your head, any SSNs submitted to our card processor do not get shared to the IRS, CRA, or anyone else 😄