Help and support

There's no limit to the maximum balance that can be held. There’s no set minimum balance but you shouldn’t go overdrawn. When you open an account with CAF Bank, remember to pay in as soon as possible, to cover the monthly fee. 

You’ll need to be registered in the UK and the main contact must be a UK resident.

Standing Orders and Direct Debits to be paid out of your account

CAF Bank isn't part of the Current Account Switch Service. If you would like to transfer your Standing orders and Direct Debits from your old account, ask your current Bank for a list of your Direct Debits and Standing Orders. You do not need to be closing your existing account to be able to use this service. Online web prints cannot be accepted as they may not show all the information required. Please check that the follow information is clearly visible when sending us the information:
 
• Your Charity’s sort code and account number with the other bank
• The 6-digit Originator number for all Direct Debits
• Any references needed for either the Standing orders or Direct Debits

Please indicate on the list which Direct Debits and Standing orders you wish to transfer and ensure the list is signed in accordance with your CAF Bank Mandate.

The signed list needs to be posted to: CAF Bank, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ.

We recommend that you have sufficient funds in your existing account until you are sure that the transfer has been successful.

Standing Orders and Direct Debits paid into your account

You will need to contact the organisations or donors of any Standing Orders paid to your existing account to advise them that your bank account details have changed.

If you have more than 250 Standing Orders paid into your existing current account, please let us know. We may be able to arrange for them to be transferred to your new account electronically.

We recommend that you speak to your Bacs Bureau if you have Direct Debits paid into your account.

Visit our Bacs Bureau Service page for details of a secure, efficient way to collect Direct Debits and send Bulk Payments within the UK.

Yes, as long as your organisation is registered and controlled in the UK. We'll need details of Operations, Partners, and Associated Organisations on the application form. 
The primary contact must be a UK resident.

To open any of our accounts, a new customer will need to provide us with the documents and information set out in our application form. We may request additional information or documents in individual cases.

Either download an application form from our website or you can email us at cafbank@cafonline.org and we’ll send you one. 

You can only open an account by post. Send your completed application form to:

CAF Bank
25 Kings Hill Avenue
Kings Hill
West Malling
ME19 4JQ

We’ll ask you to provide at least one of the following pieces of information in your application.

1. Charity registration number issued by one of the following:

• Charity Commission (CC).
• Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).
• Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI).

2. Registered company number (for organisations registered with Companies House). We'll also need to see a copy of your charity's governing document, along with a copy of any amendments or additions that may have been made since the inception of your charity and its original governing document.

 

We normally start processing account applications within two weeks of receipt and most requests are completed within four weeks of being received. We do sometimes experience peaks in account applications and some charities have more complex needs, which may take longer to process.

We give customers an account number and enable them to start paying into the account on average, in 9 days and within 15 days for 99% of customers. We don’t open accounts on the same day.

These figures are based on the time taken from our receiving all the information and documents we ask for on the application form, in a case where we don’t need any further information or documents to open the account.

The above metric covers the period in the 3 months between 1st October to 31st December 2024 and will be refreshed quarterly to reflect current performance levels.

For more information, please call us on 03000 123 456 (Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm, except English bank holidays).