Advice for club account

Jeryth

Hi,

I'm about to start a Treasurer's Account for my Club. I've looked at the articles and some threads pertaining to NFP accounts, and, apart from the Alliance & Leicester Community Instant Reserve Account, I wonder whether anybody could recommend a good account.

There will be something like £120 per month going in, with probably 4 withdrawals per year. I have a few requirements:

Online banking (for the ease of it, as there will be 2 Treasurers)

The account should be able to receive standing orders/electronic deposits

The Treasurers should be able to see who has paid their "subs" - if the statement only shows which bank account has made the deposit, that's no problem - the Treasurers can match to a table of info held offline. If the standing order allows a "reference", that would be easier, and we'd be able to stay on the right side of the Data Protection Act.

I think that's it.

Advice welcome please.

Savvy_Sue

Well as you know I've used A&L and liked them for this kind of account, so in the absence of other replies I'd just ask whether there's any reason NOT to use A&L? I can't say for sure that they do online banking for the Community accounts, but as far as I remember they used to offer the facilities you wanted of being able to see who had paid subs and accepting standing orders. Their telephone service was good for moving money between accounts: I had both the current and the high interest and often needed money moved FAST and they could do it.

As for having two treasurers and online banking: just be sure that you can track WHICH of them did what if they are going to be allowed to move money around online! Me, untrusting? Never!

Jeryth

No reason not to use A & L; just wondering whether there were any other tried and tested recommendations! I think we'd just be using one account, so two treasurers would be okay.

Savvy_Sue

jeryth wrote:

I think we'd just be using one account, so two treasurers would be okay.

I think you're misunderstanding my concern: in a good old paper based account, there HAS to be a signature. With an account like yours, there probably have to be TWO signatures. So if money disappears or goes where it shouldn't, there is a paper trail. And it can be established whose signature(s) moved that money. OK, signatures can be forged, but you've got a starting point.

With an internet account, there is no paper trail! On our personal bank account, DH and I have different passwords etc, so if he decides to run off with all the money (all the what???) I can at least show that it was him not me wot done it.

I have no experience of internet banking at work, so I'm just suggesting that you should make sure that the bank are happy with two people having control of the online part, and that it will be clear and transparent which of them is moving money around.

I am sure you trust your treasurer(s) completely (especially if you are one of them!) but it's always wise to have procedures which suggest that you don't completely trust them. Of course this is even more important in a charity where the trustees are responsible for making sure no-one can run off with the money, but even in a club it's a good idea ...

Fran

I've just signed up with another person as signatories for our group. I looked at the info on this thread and also did an internet search, and I thought the banks etc. are all useless at giving info for this type of account. In the end the two of us went to Barclays as other person a signatory in another group with them, but they kept us waiting for 20 mins. then said they couldn't see us, but would phone re appointment! We then went to the HSBC which someone else had said was ok and they gave us paperwork to look through but told us to contact them again to make appointment. I then looked on internet again and came up with Co-op bank and applied online, they then phoned me back and we met in the bank to have our ID seen in person. Basically what I'm saying is that we went with the ones that seemed interested in our account and that were easiest and most helpful to set up - also I liked the idea of their ethical practices. Altogether though considering there must be hundreds or thousands of clubs & societies etc., the banks keep the accounts well hidden on their websites and it took me a good while to even find the accounts! I can only think that people go along with whatever bank they are with without looking into the best bank paying the best interest etc. I'll try to remember to report back on how it goes with the Co-op.

Jeryth

Ooh yes Savvy Sue, I HAD misunderstood. I kinda forgot the power of the internet. I like the idea of having two people required to sign for withdrawals; it protects the group and also protects me from any funny business. I just thought the internet would be a good place to see the payments coming in. Will think on........

Fran, cheers for that, thanks for the reminder about ethical banking, too.

Savvy_Sue

jeryth wrote:

Ooh yes Savvy Sue, I HAD misunderstood. I kinda forgot the power of the internet. I like the idea of having two people required to sign for withdrawals; it protects the group and also protects me from any funny business. I just thought the internet would be a good place to see the payments coming in. Will think on........

Well yes, checking statements online is useful. However you might be able to set up to do that without being able to transfer money online, except say between the deposit and current accounts. Worth asking about. Definitely go for two signatories: also don't do what people often do which is countersign a bundle of cheques and hand the cheque book over to be filled in later. The minor inconvenience of waiting a day or two before being able to send a cheque is worth it for the peace of mind ...

Another recent piece of advice from the Charity Commission - so less relevant to Clubs but still worth considering - is that if you are giving out your bank details left right and centre you are at risk of them falling into the wrong hands and your account being emptied. It shouldn't be possible, but it has apparently happened.

Anyway, latest advice is to have a 'deposit only' account for which the details are freely available. Money then has to be transferred to another account for which the details are not freely available. Don't know who's doing this yet: we're still looking into it. But you might be able to set things up so that deposits are made into the deposit account for which details are 'public'. Means you get more interest as well. :j

jeryth wrote:

Fran, cheers for that, thanks for the reminder about ethical banking, too.

If I'd ever been able to follow the details, I could tell the story of the hoops my DH had to jump through in order to get one of the Big Four banks to change the signatories on their bank account. He had been a signatory, and would remain one, but because his role had changed from Treasurer to Chairman he had to re-produce his ID. It took several attempts! Would I use that bank for a club account? No way!

Haven't used Coop for Club banking, but they were good for us as a charity, and yes, nice to know you're not supporting the arms trade ...

Savvy_Sue

Have just pasted this in the sticky at the top: I don't know if it's an entirely new 'product' or just that I've only just become aware of it, but here's something from the Coop:

The Co-operative Bank's Community Directplus account is specifically designed to suit the needs of community organisations, charities, voluntary organisations, social enterprises and co-operatives. The low-cost 24-hour telephone, Internet and postal banking service offers free banking, with no charges for cheques, standing orders, direct debits or cash deposits/withdrawals. For every £100 deposited in a Community Directplus account, 10 pence is added to a donation fund which is then made available for customers to apply for.

Anyone interested in applying for a Community Directplus account should ring freephone 0800 783 4741 for an application pack.

Or the website is here.