Charities pray for better bank deal
CHARITIES and not-for-profit community groups using cash and cheques who have benefited from free banking with HSBC will have to pay account charges in future or look elsewhere.
The warning has shocked and dismayed one church treasurer as his deposits are manual transactions banked at a branch close by.
“The new prices could take a percentage of donations. The church choir has an account that has little movement but will be charged £60 a year. We want to avoid that, but are unsure where to go next,” a worried Maynard Cox told Crusader.
The accounts he runs include an education charity helping disadvantaged young people and two parochial church community accounts linked to Howden Minster in East Yorkshire, a Grade
I listed building part of the Church of England’s York diocese.
Maynard’s dilemma illustrates the clash between old and new – especially stark in banking as customers switch to online and banks search to cut costs, for example by closing branches and amending free services.
Smaller communities, the elderly and vulnerable, and sectors where cash is a key part of everyday operations are right in the frontline.
However, recent news about the development of shared bank branches to plug gaps has been widely welcomed.
HSBC’s introduction of its new Charitable Bank Account will commence in November.The bank declined to say how many are affected but confirmed: “We will be increasing our charges in a way that more accurately reflects the ongoing costs associated with improving and maintaining a business bank account. We are committed to supporting UK charities and not-for-profits and confident our offer is very competitive.”
If Maynard is to find free alternatives he knows he has to get cracking. Getting the right combination amid fewer options isn’t a done deal. See [box left] for Crusader’s findings so far.
Maynard’s York diocese advised: “Every parish is a self-governing charity and makes its own choices about its banking arrangements, but there is support and advice available through the national Church of England networks and through the Association of Church Accountants and Treasurers of which all parish Treasurers in the Diocese of York are members.”