Charities across the UK are collectively spending an estimated 12 million hours every year on banking administration, according to Charity Banking Report 2026, published today by Charity Finance Group (CFG). That’s the equivalent of around 6,000 people working full-time, all year, on nothing but banking tasks.
The report, based on responses from more than 2,400 people paints a mixed but somewhat encouraging picture. Some of the banking challenges that dominated previous years are easing, but new pressures around banking charges and the loss of local, in-person services are growing fast.
Every single respondent reported experiencing at least one banking challenge in the past two years. The most common was difficulty changing signatories on account mandates, cited by 53% of charities. It remains the number one issue, but there has been a significant fall from 75% in 2024.
That improvement follows sustained work by CFG and several major banks and the UK’s charity regulators to simplify mandate processes, and suggests that collaboration between the charity sector and the banking industry is beginning to pay off.
Closures and charges hitting small and rural charities hardest
Concern about being charged for banking services has risen sharply since 2024, with around four in ten small charities now reporting fees for services such as paying in cash and cheques.
Meanwhile, difficulty accessing in-person banking has surged from a concern for just 4% of respondents in 2024 to 31% in 2026, with many respondents citing branch closures as a key reason.* Almost 1,000 UK branches have closed since the last report alone. The impact is felt most acutely in rural areas, where 55% of charities say in-person banking is barely available or not available at all.
The current network of banking hubs (shared spaces offering face-to-face cash and banking services) is growing and could help fill the gap. However, the report is clear that hubs will only work for charities if the community bankers who staff them understand how charities operate.
The report points to several governance risks, with charities finding workarounds due to complex or unwieldy banking processes. Some charities described being unable to remove outdated signatories, resorting to storing cash at home or routing charity money through volunteers' personal accounts.
Other charitable organisations described that the stress associated with banking was pushing volunteers towards the door, at a time when four in five charities already have a trustee vacancy.
Recommendations for banks, charities and regulators
The report calls on everybody to play their part. CFG urges banks and financial institutions to keep simplifying processes, review charges for small charities, and train staff, including community bankers in the growing network of banking hubs.
CFG is also recommending that the UK’s charity sector regulators monitor the impact of branch closures, check that Consumer Duty is delivering for charities, and fix the chicken and egg problem facing new charities around charity and bank account registrations.
The advice to charities is clear: do what you can to ‘get bank fit’ by keeping mandates, records and governance information up-to-date. Charities are also encouraged to review whether their bank still meets their needs and, where charges are applied, understanding what good value for money looks like.
Dr Clare Mills, CFG’s Co-CEO and co-author of the report, comments:
“Charities take their compliance and governance responsibilities seriously and they know that banking administration matters. However, too many charity staff and volunteers are losing time on admin that could and should be going to the people and causes charities exist to serve.
“These lost hours are draining the time and goodwill of volunteers and staff, and extra unnecessary pressures are being created at a time when charities are already operating in a very challenging environment.
“The encouraging news is that where banks, charities, regulators and infrastructure organisations like CFG have worked together, some areas of challenge have genuinely improved. We will continue to work collaboratively with all parties to understand how we can best tackle the pressures posed by rising bank charges and the lack of in-person banking services.
“We want to thank those 2,400-plus charity staff, trustees and volunteers that responded to our 2026 survey, and acknowledge the work that many banks are now doing to help ease pressures where they can. There is still a lot of room for improvement, but we’re confident we can find solutions to many of these problems together.”
Charity Banking Report 2026 is now available to download. CFG will shortly publish further practical guides to help charities understand and assess their banking needs.
* As with any voluntary survey the data reflects the experiences of those who chose to take part, who may be more likely to have faced difficulties. The consistent approach taken across our 2022, 2024 and 2026 surveys shows longer-term trends.
Editor’s notes
- Charity Banking Challenges 2026 is published by Charity Finance Group (CFG). It is the third reports in the series, following surveys in 2022 and 2024.
- The 2026 survey ran from 6 February to 30 April and received 2,416 responses from people responsible for charity banking across the UK, a 25% increase on 2024. A Welsh-language version was made available.
- The conservative estimate of 12 million hours per year is based on respondents' reported time spent on banking tasks, scaled across the UK's approximately 204,000 registered charities. It equates to more than 6,000 full-time equivalent staff (based on a 7.5-hour day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year).
- Selected findings, 2026 vs 2024: difficulty changing signatories/mandates 53% (was 75%); charged for banking services 37%; charged to hold an account 35%; limited access to in-person banking 31% (was 4%); attending a branch in-person for verification 17% (was 34%); bank losing supplied information 12% (was 31%). Awareness of the Consumer Duty has improved, but 63% of charities have still never heard of it (was 83%).
- Branch-closure figures are drawn from Which? research: 6,795 branches closed since 2015; 8% of parliamentary constituencies now have no bank branch.
About CFG
CFG is the charity and membership organisation that supports other charitable organisations to make the biggest difference possible. We do this by helping them to make their money and resources go further, by putting financial leadership at the heart of their decision-making. Since CFG was founded in 1987, we have evolved to welcome all finance professionals working for charitable and social change organisations. We also welcome non-finance professionals who recognise that we deliver greater impact when we are financially confident, trustworthy and dynamic. Today, CFG’s vibrant community manages around one third of the UK’s entire charity sector income. We are a diverse and inclusive community of people who are passionate about delivering impact through financial leadership. Together, we lead the way for charity finance.
Media contacts
Emma Abbott, Head of Communications and Content, CFG: emma.abbott@cfg.org.uk
Glyn Sheldon, Communications Coordinator, CFG: glyn.sheldon@cfg.org.uk
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