The deputy chief executive of the Charity Finance Group has described voluntary organisations’ “widespread frustration” with retail banking services, as a survey found 92 per cent of charity respondents experienced at least one banking difficulty in the past two years.

Commenting on the launch of the report, Charity Banking Challenges 2024, Clare Mills spoke of “a clear disconnect between the service that retail banks think they provide to their charity account holders, and the level of service they receive”.

The report, produced by CFG in partnership with the Civil Society Group and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, is based on the findings of a survey conducted in March of 1,899 representatives from small and medium-sized charities.

Among the most commonly cited problems were difficulties in changing signatories on bank account mandates, encountered by 77 per cent of respondents, while four in ten reported being subjected to checks that should not apply to voluntary organisations.

Other challenges included poor communication with banks: a problem compounded by a lack of access to branches, with 29 per cent of respondents saying it took them between 30 and 60 minutes to travel to a branch of their bank.

More than 20 per cent of respondents said the communications sent by their bank had caused them to feel worried or threatened, while almost a third of respondents had experienced difficulties in opening an account with a new bank.

“This latest report on charity banking challenges backs up the findings of the research we conducted in 2022, which kick-started our work with the banking sector,” said Mills. “Both reports show widespread frustration with retail banking services across the UK charity sector.

“There’s an urgent need for the Civil Society Group, UK Finance, the Financial Conduct Authority and banking representatives to continue to work together to find real solutions to these very common but frustrating challenges.” 

Saskia Konynenburg, executive director of the NCVO, said: “The sheer level of charity staff and volunteers experiencing significant banking challenges shows these issues are systemic and require immediate action.

“We urge banks to expedite this work to implement meaningful changes that will ensure charities can manage their finances effectively and focus on supporting the communities they’re set up to help.”