Club/Society Bank Account

20171203 · 3 December 2017 at 10:58PM

Hello,

I’m the treasurer of a recently-formed, very informal cricket club. In the past, we’ve passed cash around to pay for practice facilities and pitch hire, but now we’ve decided to get a bank account. I’ve had a look at some accounts marketed for clubs and been into some high street branches, but I’m ending up with more questions than answers. In short, we need free deposits and withdrawals, the ability to transfer money online and capacity for maybe three signatories (so our Chair can be on it and I can pass the account on to the next treasurer).

I’ve found out so far that:

The Lloyds account is fine but it’s only two signatories, while we might need more (not sure).
My local Santander branch doesn’t have a ‘Business Relationship Manager’ who deals with these kind of accounts. I don’t know whether I’ll need to see and talk to anyone, but it sounds useful.
The guy I spoke to in my local TSB branch told me they don’t even allow people to open or manage accounts in branch, and it was all done online - not a good sign I thought.
There are varying levels of eligibility requirements. While Santander don’t seem to ask for anything, TSB (in their online application) want to know about turnover and trading premises! Before I choose a bank, does anyone know if ‘don’t know’ is an acceptable answer here?

Can anyone provide guidance or draw from experience on any of these issues please?

I’d also like to know if opening/being a signatory to an account like this means I lose ‘new customer’ status. I assume this is something I should keep when looking out for deals and such. Should I be wary?

Thanks,
20171203

P.S. Sorry for the suspiciously anonymous username - I wanted to get this posted and couldn’t think of a better username quickly!

YorkshireBoy · 3 December 2017 at 11:08PM

Someone else asked about multiple signatories on a current account recently as was pointed towards Co-op's Cashminder account. Maybe take a look at their website?

jonesMUFCforever · 4 December 2017 at 12:39AM

You can have more than 2 signatures on a Lloyds account or did you mean you want a minimum of 3 people to sign everything?
If you want to open one it can be done online or with a freephone number (not in branch).

claire07 · 4 December 2017 at 6:07AM

I'm treasurer for a small club and I have found the Lloyds account fine. There are a minimum of 2 signatories but you can add more if needed.

I don't know about your possible new customer status as I was already an existing Lloyds customer.

spenderdave · 4 December 2017 at 8:12AM

Also look at HSBC Community account which I have used for many years. With this and most other banks you can have as many registered signatories as you want but normally only two signatures are required on cheques.
One consideration if you intend to do online payments is that very few banks have the facility to make payments online for multi signatory accounts- which is why cheques are still very much used.

Robin9 · 4 December 2017 at 11:44AM

spenderdave wrote: »

One consideration if you intend to do online payments is that very few banks have the facility to make payments online for multi signatory accounts- which is why cheques are still very much used.

Barclays have a online system for two authorised people - one enters the raw data, the second approves it.

You could also use a card reader - like iZettle - to take the subs and pay direct to your account

System · 4 December 2017 at 5:32PM

BOS offer a Treasurers Account - as it's cricket, I'm guessing you aren't in Scotland but it's this type of account you need rather than a personal or standard business account.

eskbanker · 4 December 2017 at 8:43PM

Heng_Leng wrote: »

as it's cricket, I'm guessing you aren't in Scotland

Steady on - cricket has been played in Scotland since 1785 and there are over 150 clubs affiliated to Cricket Scotland, with probably the same again constituted on a less formal basis, as with OP's. A national side that's played in World Cups and a longstanding national league structure for the clubs, need I go on....?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_Scotland
http://www.cricketscotland.com/about-landing/

20171203 · 4 December 2017 at 11:10PM

Thank you all very much for the replies.

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Someone else asked about multiple signatories on a current account recently as was pointed towards Co-op's Cashminder account. Maybe take a look at their website?

Have had a look - not much information at all on the website. But from what there is, it doesn't look like there's any Online Banking facility at all.

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

You can have more than 2 signatures on a Lloyds account or did you mean you want a minimum of 3 people to sign everything?
If you want to open one it can be done online or with a freephone number (not in branch).

claire07 wrote: »

I'm treasurer for a small club and I have found the Lloyds account fine. There are a minimum of 2 signatories but you can add more if needed.

I don't know about your possible new customer status as I was already an existing Lloyds customer.

I concede I've jumped into this without settling what 'signatory' means. I'm looking for the ability for more than one person to be able to make a transaction, individually. I don't want a checking mechanism that means more than one person has to collectively approve transactions. Which definition is being used by the banks whose accounts I've been looking at?

Using my desired definition of signatories, I'd like three ideally - this would be me (treasurer), our Chair and an extra space for when either of these roles changes. The Lloyds account says you can "Arrange to have a second signatory on the account". Have I read this wrong?

spenderdave wrote: »

Also look at HSBC Community account which I have used for many years. With this and most other banks you can have as many registered signatories as you want but normally only two signatures are required on cheques.
One consideration if you intend to do online payments is that very few banks have the facility to make payments online for multi signatory accounts- which is why cheques are still very much used.

Robin9 wrote: »

Barclays have a online system for two authorised people - one enters the raw data, the second approves it.

You could also use a card reader - like iZettle - to take the subs and pay direct to your account

Thanks for this both - being able to make online transactions is essential for us. Cheques are, practically, not an option. So when the accounts I've looked at say they have Online Banking, does this just mean the ability to view the balance...and what else?!

Heng_Leng wrote: »

BOS offer a Treasurers Account - as it's cricket, I'm guessing you aren't in Scotland but it's this type of account you need rather than a personal or standard business account.

I am in England (sorry eskbanker!), but Natwest appear to have an equivalent (being part of the same group). During my quick look at it I was put off by the indication from the application of what proof was needed, including a trading premises. We don't have one!

jonesMUFCforever · 5 December 2017 at 12:15AM

Lloyds - you can have 3 authorised to sign on the account - but for this type of account it would be prudent for a second signatory to sign for transactions over a certain amount.
You don't want to receive a statement one day to find out a member has done a runner with all the money!

Gizmo70 · 5 December 2017 at 4:11AM

Don't most Club / Society accounts require a copy of the constitution (or equivalent) and confirmation from the club's committee (on headed paper) providing authorisation?

Club/Society Bank Account

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