Tim Frankl – Chief Customer Officer for Reliance Bank shares his knowledge of the banking challenges faced by charities. Reliance Bank has been at the forefront of social impact banking since 1890 when we were founded as The Bank for The Salvation Army.

What banking challenges do charities face?

We know that the time taken to solve banking issues can negatively impact the time dedicated to the people and communities’ charities serve. So, we were keen to understand the difficulties, which include - changing signatories on bank account mandates, being asked to complete checks not designed for charities or voluntary organisations, opening accounts with a new bank, a requirement to provide personal information for all trustees, not just signatories. Challenges were exacerbated by a lack of access to bank branches. Nearest bank branches can be between three and ten miles away; it took between 30 minutes and one hour to travel to the nearest branch.

What are the possible causes?

The causes include the transition to online banking, the increased attention given to reducing financial crime, the closure of bank branches, and banks' offshoring their call centres.

How has Reliance Bank responded?

Reliance Bank engaged with UK Finance, who produced a voluntary organisation banking guide which simplifies the process, by giving guidance on how to choose, open and manage a bank account.

Reliance Bank is proud of its UK based Customer Experience Team which operates our current and deposit accounts. We have recently increased the number of staff in this team to take telephone enquiries from charities updating their contact details and signatories. We regularly review the information we hold about our customers to ensure it is correct, up to date and accurately reflects how the charity operates. This is necessary to protect charities from financial crime and fraud and meet with regulatory expectations.

As a bank we independently verify the identity of all mandate signatories to comply with anti-money laundering regulations. Charities continue to face difficulties changing mandates, but having outdated Trustee signatories that remain on bank accounts can pose a risk to the charity’s financial security. In those instances, our banking relationship manager can visit the charity to reduce the time it takes to change mandates. We have committed to making improvements to the way charities open a new bank account with us and make it easier to comply with identity requirements set by the bank.

How does Reliance Bank’s customer service compare to high street banks?

We outperform high street banks for customer satisfaction!

Reliance Bank have been awarded FIRST place overall in the 2025 Charity Finance Banking Survey! As voted for by our customers. Reliance Bank also achieved first place for - Telephone Service, Internet Services, ESG Credentials and Branch Service.

How is Reliance Bank different from other banks?

Reliance Bank is a distinctive specialist bank delivering positive societal outcomes aligned to the mission of The Salvation Army. For that reason, Reliance Bank aligns its lending policies to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals - a blueprint to help reduce poverty, protect the planet’s future and improve lives. In 2024, Reliance Bank’s funding helped - 2,900 people with community centres and facilities, reduce hunger for 2,100 people, reduce poverty for 545 people and 443 people receive personal learning and development opportunities. Visit our website to read our latest Social Impact Report.
Our customer’s banking and savings deposits contribute to providing funding to organisations that provide food banks, health and social care, affordable housing projects and treatment centres that help people affected by gambling-related harm. We call it Giving Money Meaning.

Call us on 020 7398 5400 or email us at businessaccounts@reliancebankltd.com

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