Technology is taking the holidays by storm, and it’s not just because today is Cyber Monday.  You need proof? Well look no further than your friendly neighborhood sidewalk Santa cheerfully jingling his bells to drum up collections for the Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army announced about a week ago that its sidewalk Santas in San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, and New York will be armed with smartphones equipped with credit card readers to accept donations on the plastic. The  credit card readers, which plug into the headphone jacks of iPhones, iPads, or Android phones, are being provided by San Francisco-based Square. Sprint is providing the phones and wireless service.

The goal of the initiative is to make it even easier to donate to the Salvation Army, which annually sends out a force of about 25,000 bellringers to raise money from holiday shoppers. In 2010, the Salvation Army collected more than $142 million to help people in need with toys, food, and clothing.

And though it’s not stated in the release, an added benefit of accepting credit card donations is that it will give the Salvation Army a way to track the donors. Traditionally, donations have been in the form of pocket change and small bills placed in the signature red kettles.