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We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

Personal giving From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions. Corporate giving You have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals. Services for charities Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient. Insights Discover the latest insights for donors and charitable organisations to help create a greater impact About us We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work. Donate  
 
 
 

Personal giving

From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions.

DISCOVER OUR PERSONAL GIVING SOLUTIONS

Corporate giving

You have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals.

DISCOVER OUR CORPORATE GIVING SOLUTIONS

Services for charities

Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient.

DISCOVER HOW WE SUPPORT CHARITIES

Insights

Discover the latest insights for donors and charitable organisations to help create a greater impact

Explore

About us

We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

Find out more about CAF

Five practical tips to follow when setting up a charity bank account

Choosing the right bank for your charity is an important decision and it requires research to ensure that you find a bank that meets your needs.

Choosing the right bank for your charity is an important decision. It requires research to ensure that you find a bank that meets your needs, your banking priorities, and aligns with your values. You will want to consider a bank’s financial stability and reputation, whether they have specialist charity sector knowledge, how ethical their investments are, the quality of their customer service, and more.

Once you have concluded your research and found a bank that meets your needs, the next step is to set up your charity bank account. Here are five practical tips that can help you.

1. Allow yourself time to prepare

As UK banks are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), there is a process that needs to be followed when opening a bank account. This is to protect customers, as well as safeguard the integrity of the financial system in the UK.

Allow yourself enough time to find and read the application form on the bank’s website. This will help you to understand what documentation, or information, you may need when starting the application process. 

Similarly, it may take you time to locate the information you require and you may need to speak with colleagues or your trustees to gather this and other documentation. Remember too that compliance checks can take time, so start the process early to avoid any delays to your charity’s operations. 

2. Seek clarification on anything that is unclear

If anything in the application form is unclear, contact the bank’s customer service team for clarity. Most banks offer a range of ways to contact them, such as by phone, email or via an online chat function. It is better to start the process with a thorough understanding of what is required, than to be held up due to missing – or incorrect – information and documentation.

 

3. Agree on who will be the account signatories

All trustees are responsible for the financial management of their charity and ensuring there are internal controls in place to help prevent fraud. A signatory is a named person or persons on the bank account who are authorised to withdraw funds or make payments. It is important to establish who in your charity will be your named signatories. They may be a combination of employees and trustees, depending on the size of your organisation. 

What is important is that you have, as a minimum, two signatories and that there is a process set up whereby a signatory has to authorise a transaction or payment made by another signatory. Among other things, this will help you to reduce the potential risk of fraud and/or mistakes, and make sure that decisions are made as collectively as possible.

 

4. Have everything you may need to hand

When opening a bank account for your charity, you will be required to produce certain documentation and information as part of ‘Know your customer’ regulations. These are regulations that banks and other financial institutions must abide by to help prevent fraud and money laundering. 

What you will need will vary from bank to bank and the information you provide will need to be verified. If it is not in the public domain, for example on the Charity Commission’s website, then you may be asked for further documentation.

Here are some of the common things you will be asked to provide to open a bank account for your charity:

  • Information on your charity, such as the charity’s name, address, and registered number/s from the Charity Commission or
  • Your expected levels of income, along with the types of transactions you are likely to make. For example, how much income you
  • Companies House are expecting to receive in a year, along with the ways you will receive the money. This could include receiving donations via cheque, cash, payroll giving, BACS payments or online donations and any grant funding you will be applying for. 
  • The full name, home address, date of birth and telephone number for some or all of the people who manage or oversee your organisation. These could include trustees and other signatories. To confirm these details, some banks may ask for proof of identity, such as a passport or driving licence as well as proof of address in the form of a utility bill. 
  • If you are a new charity, you may be asked to provide details on how you secured your initial funding. 
  • If you are a charity that is changing banks, you may be asked to provide bank statements for up to six months from your previous bank.

 

5. Set up your internal financial processes

Once you have agreed on your signatories and have opened, or are in the process of opening, a new bank account, put together your internal financial processes. This should include ensuring that no one person is responsible for approving and making payments, and that there are levels of approval for significant financial transactions. Having these processes in place is good practice and helps prevent fraud. 

Learn more about the full range of products offered by CAF Bank. 

CAF Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Financial Services Register number: 204451).

CAF Bank Limited Registered office is 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ. Registered in England and Wales under number 1837656.