A

Arranged overdraft

Customers can borrow money from CAF Bank in the form of an arranged overdraft on their CAF Bank Account

Account contact

CAF Bank’s main point of contact for a CAF Cash Account or CAF Gold Account.

Account signatory

An individual listed on the charity’s Bank mandate.

B

Bacs Bureau Service

CAF Bank’s Bacs payments processing and Bacs sponsorship service. See also Bacs sponsorship.

Bacs sponsorship

Customers can appoint CAF Bank to be the sponsor for making and receiving Bacs payments.

C

CAF American Donor Fund (CADF)

Enables dual US/UK tax payers to give to charities worldwide whilst claiming tax relief in the USA and UK.

CAF Bank

A bank primarily for charities and not-for-profit organisations.

CAF Bank Business card

A MasterCard® Business card which can be used to pay for goods and withdraw cash from a CAF Cash Account.

CAF Bank Fee Information Documents

A published list of CAF Bank’s charges.


CAF Bank International Payments

Requests to make an electronic transfer to an overseas bank must be made in writing. Charities can also write to us and nominate a regular payment to an account in their name; once it’s been set up we can accept verbal instructions to make the payment.

CAF Bank loans

CAF Bank offers flexible secured and unsecured loans exclusively to UK- registered charities and not-for-profit organisations.

CAF Bank Online

A simple and secure way to manage your banking online.

CAF Bank Online Faster Payments

CAF Bank provides a service for sending Faster Payments via online banking. See also Faster Payments.

CAF Bank Online statements

CAF Bank Online provides paperless bank statements.

CAF Bank Personal Account

A relationship-managed, invitation-only current account.

CAF Bank Personal Card

A MasterCard debit card which can be used to pay for goods and withdraw cash from a CAF Cash Account.

CAF Bank telephone banking

Once signed telephone instructions are in place, customers can request transfers between their CAF Bank Accounts, suspend or stop online banking facilities or cancel a business card for a cardholder. We’ll verify your identity each time you call - see also Telephone Security.

CAF Cash Account

CAF Bank’s current account for charities and personal banking customers

CAF Charitable Legacy Service

A way to leave a charitable legacy (to CAF) in a Will for the benefit of those charities named in a CAF Letter of Wishes. See also CAF Letter of Wishes and Charitable legacies.

CAF Charitable Trust

A trust which allows you to plan your long-term giving without the time-consuming tasks usually involved in running a trust. See also Charitable trust.

CAF Charity Account

A tax-effective account that can hold money you’ve earmarked for charitable giving.

CAF Charity Card

A way of making payments out of a CAF Charity Account.

CAF Give As You Earn

A payroll giving scheme which allows people to donate a set amount from their pre-tax salary. For example, if someone pays 20% tax and donates £20, £16 comes from the donor and £4 comes from HMRC.

CAF Gold Account

CAF Bank’s instant access charity savings account.

CAF Investment Account

A digital trading platform designed for charities to manage their investments in one place.

CAF Letter of Wishes

A form that sets out what you want to happen to your CAF legacy, your CAF Charity Account or your CAF Charitable Trust when you die.

CAF Managed Portfolio Service

A managed investment service, where experts make investment decisions on the charity’s behalf. Organisations can choose to take different strategies, ranging from low risk to high risk.

CAF Platinum Account

CAF Bank’s 30 day charity savings account. As of 1 June 2014, we no longer accept new deposits into CAF Platinum Accounts until further notice.

CAF Staff Charity Fund

A fund which allows employees to pool their CAF Give As You Earn donations.

CAF Venturesome

The social investment arm of CAF, which connects social investors with charities looking for funding for growth or working capital.

CAF Charity Voucherbook

Paper vouchers you can use for making donations out of a CAF Charity Account or CAF Charitable Trust.

Change of contact/address

When a charity changes their main contact or correspondence address, a change of contact/address form is completed.

CHAPS payments

The Clearing House Automated Payments System (CHAPS) enables same day payments to be made electronically. The deadline for valid instructions received by CAF Bank is 3pm on a working day. If you send us instructions after 3pm, we’ll process them as soon as possible – and in any case before close of business on the next working day.

Charitable legacy

When someone leaves money to charity in their Will. See also CAF Charitable Legacy Service.

Charitable trust

A way of managing assets, which are dedicated to charitable goals. Charitable trusts are exempt from most forms of tax, and trustees have more freedom than they would in other types of trusts. See also CAF Charitable Trust.

Charity current account

The CAF Cash Account, which allows you access to your money without giving notice.

Charity deposit account

The CAF Gold Account, which allows you to withdraw your money either with or without notice.

Charity investments

Charities invest money in order to generate funds, which go toward completing the charity’s goals.

Charity loans

Finance exclusively available to charities and not-for-profits. CAF Bank provides borrowing to these organisations.

Charity savings account

A savings account for charities and not-for-profits. CAF Gold is our instant access charity savings account.

Corporate community investment

Companies choose to get involved in community partnerships to help address particular social issues. This can help them win new customers and improve their image, as well as connect with the local community.

Corporate foundations

A way for companies to manage their charitable giving in one central place, such as a CAF Company Account.

Corporate philanthropy

A business or corporation that promotes the welfare of others. Usually, this involves donating time, money, facilities or the businesses’ own products.

Corporate social responsibility

An organisation’s way of assessing and taking responsibility for its effects on the environment and society. This can be done by ensuring that it complies with the law, ethical standards and national/international norms. Some businesses take it a step further and actively contribute to society eg by giving to charity. See also Corporate philanthropy.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a way of raising money by appealing to a large group of people (a crowd) and collecting from them a large number of small contributions that, when aggregated, together make a usable sum.

E

Ethical investments

Ethical investments are funds which benefit society and protect the charity’s values, so that it doesn’t lose supporters. They may choose to avoid investing in organisations that sell harmful products, are involved in casinos/gambling or have links to nuclear power.

F

Faster Payments

CAF Bank is a member of the Faster Payments scheme, which gives cleared funds faster between different banks and building societies within the UK.

G

Gift Aid

The Gift Aid scheme allows charities to claim back tax on any eligible donation made by a UK taxpayer. This means charities get an extra 25p for every £1 donated.

#givingtuesday

An annual campaign, powered by CAF. It takes place just after Cyber Monday and encourages people to donate, volunteer or spread the word about the charities they’re passionate about.

I

Investment Explorer

A free tool which lets you design, back-test, create and compare portfolios, before investing your charity’s money through the CAF Investment Account.

M

Mandate

A legal document detailing individuals authorised by the customer to sign instructions and correspond with CAF Bank.

Matched Giving

A scheme which allows employers to match their employees’ donations when they’ve donated through CAF Give As You Earn. 

N

Non-governmental organisation (NGO)

Any organised not-for-profit or voluntary group.

O

Overdraft

An agreement where a bank extends credit on a current account, up to a maximum amount (overdraft limit) against which the customer can withdraw funds. Interest is charged daily only on the debit balance. If a negative balance exceeds the agreed limit, additional fees may be charged and higher interest rates applied. An overdraft can be cancelled at any time by the lender without notice.

Online Banking Primary User

The individual with administration rights on CAF Bank Online. This individual is the main contact on the account.

Online Banking Secondary User

This individual is set up by the Primary User.  Their access rights are determined by the Primary User.

P

Payroll giving

A scheme which allows an organisation’s employees to donate to charity from their salary without paying any tax on their donation (an example is CAF Give As You Earn).

S

Secured loans

Allow people or organisations to borrow money by using property or another fixed asset as security. Where loans are secured by property the property is at risk if the loan is not repaid in full. Find out more about the different types of loan in our Financing the Future guide.

Social Impact Bond (SIB)

A contract with the public sector or governing authority, where it pays for better social outcomes in certain areas and passes on part of the savings achieved to investors. A social impact bond is not strictly a bond, since repayment and return on investment depend on whether the organisation achieves social outcomes; if the objectives aren’t achieved, investors won’t receive a return or repayment of what they lend.

Social investment

The use of repayable finance to achieve a social as well as a financial return. Capital is lent to organisations with the explicit aim of furthering their social outcomes – examples range from helping young unemployed people secure work to alleviating poverty in developing countries. See also CAF Venturesome.

Social return on investment (SROI)

A way to measure the non-financial impact (eg environmental, social) of social investment. Read more about the first Russia SROI evaluation and measuring SROI in Brazil.

T

Telephone security

Customers will have to answer security questions - including digits from a mandatory password they’ve already set - before they can be given any information about their account.

U

Unsecured loan

The lender has no specific legal charge over an asset belonging to the customer. The amount that can be borrowed is limited. Find out more about the different types of loan in our Financing the Future guide.

V

Verification (formerly known as validation)

We check all of the charities that we pass donations on to, both in the UK and overseas. This ensures our donors money will be tax-efficient and put to good use.

Our Charity Verification Guide explains how we do this.

Update March 2018: Find out about the changes to our charity verification process.

W

World Giving Index

A report by CAF which shows the charitable behaviour of different countries around the world . It shows who is most likely to donate, how much was given in total this year (compared with the past) and more.