Tech-savvy churches are bringing in 97 percent more donations as they turn to contactless technology for their collection plates.

The Church of England has been rolling out contactless collection plates across the UK since last September with churches in London, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Peterborough at the front of the queue to try it out.

According to SumUp, the fin-tech company behind the card readers, for every 500 church visitors, 35 percent are looking to use contactless payments.

As a result, introducing contactless collection plates means 175 more donations can be made to a church each service, where a congregation is 500 strong. This equates to £875 more revenue, per every 500 parishioners.

SumUp told The Telegraph that the churches using the technology saw their donations double within four months of using the digital collection plate.

The total digital revenue taken on the new collections plates has skyrocketed since September and the contactless card readers now account for nearly half of digital donations, such as standing orders, that churches are receiving altogether.

“Overall giving has increased. It appears that people who were previously not giving, maybe because they didn't have cash on them, are now giving when they have the opportunity,” Reverend Margaret Cave of Christ Church East Greenwich told The Telegraph.