In 2024, CFG, NCVO and the Civil Society Group published Charity Banking Challenges 2024, a report exploring the barriers that charities encounter in accessing the banking services they need.
Over 90% of respondents had encountered difficulties with their banking services. The report also revealed that 64% of charity respondents had submitted a complaint to their bank within the past two years.
Only a small proportion however – just 4% – chose to escalate their concerns to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Perhaps most strikingly, more than half (57%) reported that their complaint had not been resolved to their satisfaction.
Communicating with banks and reaching a quick resolution to a problem is clearly an issue for charities.
This guide is designed to support charitable organisations to communicate with their bank and, if necessary, to help them through the complaints process. It also explains how to escalate an unresolved issue to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
It provides clear, step-by-step guidance, outlines key considerations and best practices, and brings together all the relevant requirements and resources in one place.
The guide also includes ready-to-use email templates to help charities communicate effectively with their banks. You can also use the email templates as the basis for letters, if that is your preference.
We hope you find this guide helpful. Please let the CFG team know if there’s anything else you think we should be included.
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