Bank accounts for charities, clubs and community groups

• Acceptance of your legal structure.Most mainstream banks now turn away unincorporated groups without a constitution; some won't accept CICs; no single specialist bank accepts every small-organisation form (the Co-operative Bank and CAF Bank, for example, do not take unregistered clubs).
• Dual-signatory authorisation (“two-to-sign”). The Charity Commission's internal-financial-controls guidance effectively expects this. Specialist banks support it natively; some app-based business accounts don't.
• Low or zero monthly fee for the small-scale operation. Compare the complete tariff because a fee-free account can still charge for cash, cheques or manual payments.
• Free everyday transactions in volume — most specialist accounts cap free transactions; check the limits.
• FSCS protection. Since 1 December 2025, eligible charity deposits are protected up to £120,000 per charity, per authorised bank or banking group. Use the FSCS charity guidance and licence checker before placing larger reserves.
• Trustee KYC familiarity. Mainstream banks increasingly want to identity-check every named trustee as a Key Account Person. Specialist banks are practised at this; high-street SME banks often are not.
• Online banking with shared visibility. Trustees and treasurer should both be able to see balances. Confirm who can view, create and approve a payment, and whether the account can enforce the mandate online.

Fees and eligibility below were checked against the banks' official product pages on 24 September 2026. Product terms change, and every application remains subject to the provider's checks.

All ten are sensible starting points for many UK community-group banking. The choice between them usually comes down to: who accepts your legal structure, who handles your cash volume cheaply, and which has the digital UX your treasurer can live with.

Co-operative Bank Charity & Community Account. No monthly service fee on the tariff in force from 23 July 2026, and everyday transactions, including cash and cheques paid in, are free; exchanging cash costs £1.60 per £100. The eligibility list covers registered or exempt charities, registered CICs, eligible co-ops/community benefit societies and credit unions. The bank removed its £2m turnover limit on 24 July 2026; it may review the tariff for an account that deposits more than £100,000 in cash or 5,000 cheques a year. It is not a general route for every unregistered association. The bank proposes to transfer its business to Coventry Building Society on 1 January 2027, subject to court approval; deposits with the Co-operative Bank, smile and Coventry Building Society would then share one £120,000 FSCS limit.

CAF Bank.Owned by the Charities Aid Foundation. The CAF Cash Account costs £5 a month, pays a variable rate of credit interest and supports online dual authorisation. CAF's current criteria include registered, exempt or excepted charities, registered CICs and CASCs, and eligible trusts. It expressly excludes an unincorporated club or society unless it is registered with a charity regulator or recognised as excepted.

Unity Trust Bank. Its current account costs £7 a month. Tier 1 (under £100,000 account turnover) includes transactions; Tier 2 adds per-transaction charges. Online banking supports single, dual or triple payment authorisation. Cash and cheques can be paid in through specified high-street partners, with cash-only access at the Post Office.

Lloyds Community / Charity Accounts. Lloyds publishes separate routes for registered charities and qualifying unregistered community organisations, clubs and associations. The published limit is less than £250,000 paid in every 12 months. The Charity Account has no monthly fee and the Community Account costs £4.25 a month; both charge for some payments, cash and cheques. Up to four signatories can be added; confirm whether the online approval controls meet your constitution.

Metro Bank Community Current. The cash-handling option in this list. It costs £3 a month and includes 200 fee-free transactions (then 30p each) and up to £10,000 a month of cash paid in or withdrawn free (then £1 per £100). Its current criteria cover UK clubs, societies and charities with annual turnover or balance-sheet total of £250,000 or less and no more than three account operators.

Virgin Money Charities Choice / Clubs & Societies. Virgin publishes one route for registered charities and another for clubs, societies, unregistered charities and qualifying non-profits. Registered charities with turnover under £1m get free day-to-day banking on Charities Choice; above £1m the fee is £6.50 a month plus a charge per transaction. The Clubs & Societies account is free in any month with 10 or fewer transactions; above that, the £6.50 monthly fee and per-transaction charges apply. Neither account is available in Northern Ireland. Virgin Money is now part of Nationwide, so eligible deposits with both share one £120,000 FSCS limit.

NatWest Community bank account. Open to clubs, societies, charities and other not-for-profit groups. Day-to-day banking is free when annual credit turnover is under £100,000 and at least one person named on the application already holds a NatWest account or mortgage (a credit card does not count). Groups with two to four signatories and turnover under £100,000 get Bankline for Communities free, which lets one person set up a payment and another approve it. The Royal Bank of Scotland offers the same account in Scotland.

HSBC UK Charitable Bank Account. No monthly account fee and free UK digital banking. Clubs, societies and associations with turnover of £6.5m or less, fewer than four people on the application and all key controllers in the UK can apply online; everyone else applies by phone. Online banking supports dual control, so one person creates a payment and another authorises it.

Barclays Charity Impact Account. No account fees. It is open to registered charities, excepted charities, federated associated charities and community interest companies. It is not a route for an unregistered club or society.

Santander Treasurer's Current Account.For UK not-for-profit clubs, societies and charities with annual turnover up to £250,000. It costs £4.99 a month, with no monthly fee for registered charities. Santander is currently opening new Treasurer's Current Accounts only for people who already bank with it; you phone to book an application appointment.

Closed to new customers:TSB's Club, Charity and Society Account is no longer on sale, and Triodos is not accepting new business or charity current account applications. Existing accounts with both continue.

Two practical patterns:

• Charity-specialist: Co-op (accepts CICs); CAF Bank (accepts registered CICs); Unity Trust (serves purpose-led organisations subject to eligibility). Compare payment controls as well as fees.
• App-based business account:check the legal form line by line. Starling's published business-account criteria generally support companies limited by shares and LLPs, while many CICs are limited by guarantee. Tide and Monzo Business state that they do not accept CICs or charities. A fast application is not useful if the structure is outside the provider's criteria or the account lacks the payment approvals your board requires.

Apply against the company type shown on the CIC's Companies House record. Do not describe a CIC as a charity unless it is separately registered as one, and do not assume that every business account supports companies limited by guarantee.

1. Adopt a written constitution.Even informal groups need one to open an account. The Charity Commission's model constitution for an unincorporated charity (GD3) is a sensible starting point.
2. Match the account name exactly to your governing document (and Charity Commission register, where applicable). Mismatches are the most common cause of rejection.
3. Pass a formal resolution. A constituted meeting (committee, board, AGM) must resolve to open the account and authorise specified signatories. Minute the resolution; banks ask to see it.
4. Gather KYC documentation for every named signatory: photo ID, proof of address (last 3 months), trustee details for the Charity Commission register where applicable.
5. Apply. Most specialist banks have online application forms. Unity also takes applications by phone; CAF Bank accepts online or posted paper applications; the Co-operative Bank accepts paper forms only for accounts with 11 or more key individuals.
6. Allow time for verification.Check the provider's current service information and do not make a grant deadline depend on an unconfirmed opening date.
7. Set up dual authority (“two-to-sign”) from day one. The Charity Commission's internal-financial-controls guidance effectively expects this. Unity Trust offers single, dual or triple online authorisation; the Co-operative Bank and CAF Bank offer dual authorisation in online banking.
8. Review protection above £120,000. Eligible charity deposits are protected up to £120,000 per charity, per authorised bank or banking group. Use the FSCS checker before splitting reserves because different brands can share one authorisation.
9. Keep the account active. Move a small sum at least quarterly to avoid dormancy flags. The FCA found that inactive or dormant accounts were one of the two most common reasons for closures, alongside financial-crime concerns.
10. Write a banking and signatory policy that survives a change of treasurer. The next treasurer will thank you.

1. Make a formal written complaintto the bank, referencing the FCA Consumer Duty (in force since July 2023; for deposit accounts it covers charities with annual income under £1 million) and the Charity Commission's November 2023 open letter to UK bank CEOs about substandard charity service.
2. Escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service if unresolved. Eligible micro-enterprises, small businesses and charities with annual income under £6.5m qualify.
3. Notify the FCAthrough its consumer contact centre (0800 111 6768) if there's evidence of systemic de-risking against the charity sector.
4. Apply elsewhere in parallel.Don't wait for resolution — the FOS process takes months and the charity needs a working account.
5. Document the experience. The sector infrastructure bodies (NCVO, ACEVO, NAVCA, Charity Finance Group) collect this evidence; it eventually shifts regulator action.

• Funding — the topic hub →

  Banking, grants, gift aid, business rates relief, charity trading.

• UK community group legal structures →

  Which legal form unlocks which banking options — and where the easy charity-banking accounts apply.

• Unincorporated association explained →

  The default form for small groups, and how to evidence it for a bank account application.

• Starting a community group in the UK →

  Bank account is one of the first decisions; this guide covers the wider sequence.

• Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) explained →

  Banking is one of the practical bottlenecks for new CIOs — covered in the CIO setup section.

• Charity Commission: Research with trustees 2026, including the 2024–2026 banking trend
• FCA, UK Payment Accounts: Access and Closures (September 2023); FCA September 2024 follow-up report
• Charity Commission open letter to UK bank CEOs (November 2023)
• Charity Commission CC8: internal financial controls, including dual authorisation
• Co-operative Bank Charity & Community Account
• CAF Cash Account
• Unity Trust Business Current Account
• Lloyds Community and Charity Accounts
• Metro Bank Community Current Account
• Virgin Money charity, club and society accounts
• Starling business-account eligibility, used only to explain company-form restrictions
• Tide: charities and CICs and Monzo Business ineligibility list
• FCA Consumer Duty (in force 31 July 2023; closed books 31 July 2024)
• FSCS protection for charities: £120,000 per eligible charity, per authorised bank or group

General information, not regulated financial advice. Bank terms, eligibility caps and fees move regularly — confirm current detail with each bank before applying. Provider eligibility, fees and links last checked 24 September 2026.