Five churches in the country are trialling contactless payment

It's to combat the decline in cash donations to the Catholic Church in recent years.

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People could soon be able to donate to Mass collections with their bank card.

Five Catholic churches in Dublin are trialling cashless payments, with the hope of rolling it out nationwide.

According to the Times Ireland, there was a 19 per cent decrease in donations to the Archdiocese of Dublin between 2016 and 2017.

€2.4 million was given in 2017, down from €3.1 million the year before.

The archdiocese says card machines will be placed at the back of the church, but traditional basket collections will continue.