[danpat]

The sad news is that the credit card scammers have ruined this - automated credit card testing often looks for small donation pages like you're suggesting, then uses them to check if stolen card numbers are valid. This leads to chargebacks, loss of reputation by the donatee in the eyes of the card processor, and a whole bunch of wasted time. One of the "services" that organizations like Patreon actually perform is to take on this risk on behalf of their clients.

I guess bitcoin/etc payments are still OK, but except in some small niche subject areas, aren't generally accepted enough to make the direct donation setup worthwhile.

[lisper]

A paypal link would be fine. As would a physical mailing address where I can send a paper check.

[vagrantJin]

Im 28 and have a vague recollection of cheque books. I can assure you no person under 21 in my country can say they have actually seen one. Do they still exist?

[lisper]

They are quite common in the U.S. Vast swaths of our financial system are still stuck in the mid-20th century or earlier. A check is the only way (besides cash) to transfer money in the U.S. without incurring some sort of fee or other overhead.

[vagrantJin]

Jesus!

It must be because I live in a developing country or maybe the lack of infrastructure 30 years ago means we can hop and skip straight to almost fully digital. These days going to the bank is akin to corporal punishment. Just give me an app or you're dead to me.

[lisper]

I know, right? It never ceases to amaze me that the U.S. financial system hasn't collapsed under the weight of its historical baggage a long time ago.

[labawi]

EU has SEPA payments, where you can just send money to an account, usually for no or negligible fee.

Weird how a similar arrangement is not available in so many countries.

[kevinhq]

this. in one of the projects I am working on, we have this problem exactly. automated credit card testing problem for small donations.

we use Stripe API there. And Stripe is just suggesting to pay more for their radar check, which in our opinion, put more burden on both donors and the organization.