This is a welcome page from the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
Up until May this year I was the #treasurer of a small professional association and I am currently treasurer for my church, which is in an interim phase changing from operating as a #charitable #trust to a #CIO.
Whilst there are many very good things about the ease with which we can bank these days, in both these roles over the last 5 years I have also sadly experienced first-hand the problems and costs in terms of time and stress that go with charity and community banking in the UK.
I have encountered difficulties when changing signatories, applying for online banking, trying to implement dual authority with online banking, and applying for new accounts.
Moving money abroad, well that's a whole other level of difficulty. Sometimes more so when you don't want to send very much but you want to send it to an area of the world not easily served #B2B by #moneytransfer organisations.
Having to complete an online #knowyourcustomer review for one particular bank was dreadful. The bank's review system didn't work and kept throwing up error messages; there was no help from the local branch (because this is now the preserve of a specialist team) and all the time there were threats of account closure hanging over us because, despite uploading documents time and again, the system was convinced we had not responded to requests for information. This was probably the most frustrating, stressful and upsetting of all.
At times it's felt isolating. However, I have discovered and been very grateful for the resources, practical help and support found online, particularly given by organisations such as Stewardship, Charity Excellence - a FREE one-stop-shop for everything a non-profit needs., CharityConnect, Small International Development Charities Network (SIDCN), Small Charity Support, ASSOCIATION OF CHURCH ACCOUNTANTS AND TREASURERS CORPORATE TRUSTEE LIMITED and also for the kind assistance provided by Gareth Anderson of Allica Bank who, despite not being eligible for an account with them, very generously gave me of his own time and advice anyway.
I really hope the Charity Commission for England and Wales manages to persuade the banking sector that they need to work to serve the charity sector much better. Maybe this is also another area that the new The Labour Party #UK #government will look at and work to improve the situation for all of us small charities and associations.
Findings from our recent sector survey reveal that 42% of trustees experienced poor service from their #banks.
Our new page brings together information to support charities in accessing adequate #banking services: 👉https://lnkd.in/eY8xeJKx
Regional Executive Director of Dealer Lending at Ally Financial Inc.
2moI had the opportunity to spend a few days there with several dealer customers and others from Ally. It could not have been a better experience for all that attended.