Step 1: Church Information (Basic & Legal)
We're so excited you've decided to join us! Nucleus 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. Because of this, you'll be asked for a bit more information, beyond other simpler giving platforms.
Please keep in mind that the content you enter on the Banking and Legal Information pages should be treated as any other official application.
Church Information
Legal Church Name
Some churches have a different legal name that matches their tax ID, that's different from their current operating name. For example, your church might now be called "River Church" but it was originally setup and filed for tax purposes as "River Baptist Church of Tennessee".
Legal / Mailing Address
This is usually the physical, mailing address for your primary church location but may be different than your primary gathering location. (This address cannot be a P.O. Box.)
Main & Alternate Phone Number
You will need at least a main phone number, but if there is a phone number you use for legal or financial communications, you can also include that.
Tax ID Number
To verify your church and to stay compliant with current laws and financial regulations, we’ll need your church’s Tax ID number. For Canadian residents, please use the first 9 digits of your government-issued business number.
Church Start Date
This is the date your church was legally formed. If you don't know the exact date (because it was a very long time ago and records for those details are hard to come by), provide your best accurate guess.
Registered Legal Status
We'll need to know if your church has a legal Non-Profit filing status with the government.
Deposit Account Information
Bank Account Information
For US churches, you'll need to provide the name of your bank, along with your routing and checking account number.
For Canadian churches, you'll need to provide the name of your bank, along with your checking account, institution, and transit number.
Wanting to use a savings account instead? Contact our support to see what options are available. CardConnect, our card processor, is leery on using savings accounts, as they generally have a limited amount of transactions per month.
Legal Owner Information
Account Owner's Name
Please identify who will be considered the financial owner of the account for legal signing purposes. Typically, this is the same person in charge of the financials or the person who signs legal agreements for your church — in many cases a pastor or other staff or board member. Due to "know your customer" laws when dealing with financial information and collecting and depositing money, we're required to collect this information, and we only use this information for legal and financial verification so you can accept giving and receive deposits into your church account.
Owner's Physical Address
Depending on how your church is set up, this is generally the same as your primary church address, but can also be the home residence of the account owner.
Owner’s Phone Number
Again, this is generally the same as your primary church phone, but if you're setup differently, you can enter a specific one for the account owner.
Owner’s Email Address
This can be the same email address you used as your personal login email if you wish. It cannot be the same as the church's generic email address.
Owner’s Tax ID Number (SSN or SIN)
As a part of staying compliant with current laws and regulations surrounding financial services, we're required to collect the account owner's Tax ID Number, which is usually a Social Security Number (for US individuals) or SIN (for Canada individuals). Since your account will be connected to an actual person, not to your church's organization, the individual who opens the account is required to enter their SSN/SIN. Don't worry - there won't be a hard pull on your credit, your number will simply be used as a basic identify verification.
Owner's Date of Birth
This information is used for financial and legal verification purposes, to setup your church to accept giving online.
Once you've verified all field are filled out and look A-OK, be sure to click the Save my changes button at the bottom of the page.
During the setup process, you can return to the Account Setup Checklist by clicking on the light blue banner under the top menu bar.
After you've filled out and saved all sections, you can click the Save & Submit button at the bottom of the checklist to submit your Merchant Application.
That's it for now! We're just as excited to get you started with your new account.
Houston, start the countdown. 👨🚀