Bank accounts

Choosing the right bank account

There's a lot to consider when deciding on the best bank or building society for your unit or level to use. 

Firstly, choose a bank that’s part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), as this protects your funds up to £85,000 if a bank or building society fails. Most banks will say on their website if they’re part of the FSCS, but you should check the Financial Services Register.

You should also think about:

• Ease of access. If you don’t have a branch near you, some banks allow payments and withdrawals from other banks or from the Post Office.
• Online-only accounts. A lot of banks offer online-only services which may be a great option to cut down on trips to the bank.
• Dual authorisation. Some banks offer online banking with dual authorisation. This is a security setting that means 2 different signatories are needed to authorise any payment above a certain limit that you set. If dual authorisation is set up, you’ll be able to download a report from your bank to show that each online transaction was agreed in advance. This option could save you a lot of admin when it comes to your end of year review of accounts.
• Cheque payments. Choosing an account that requires 2 signatories for cheque payments will make sure these payments are dual authorised.
• Banking fees. Check if you’ll be charged a monthly fee or a fee for certain transactions. Some banks allow charities to bank for free. If you choose an account that does charge a fee, make sure that you include this in your budget planning.
• Minimum opening deposit. Some banks need you to pay in a certain amount of money when you open an account.
• Expected turnover. Some banks will only let you open an account if you can pay in a certain amount in the year.
• Account statement limit. Some banks may limit how often you can get certain information about your account. This can make it difficult to track payments made to and from your account. This won’t apply if you opt for online banking.
• Type of account. A charity, community, or treasurer’s account will usually offer the best terms, but not all banks provide these options. A business account is another good option, and may offer better conditions without charging too much.
• Banking licenses. If you have funds greater than £85,000, this will only be protected if it's kept in accounts with different licenses. For example, Halifax and Aviva are both owned by Bank of Scotland and share the Bank of Scotland banking license. RBS and NatWest are both owned by NatWest Group but have their own banking license. If you had 2 bank accounts, 1 with Halifax, 1 with Aviva, you would still only be protected up to £85k in total because there’s just 1 license. If you had 1 bank account with RBS and 1 with NatWest, each account would be protected up to £85k, £170k in total, because each bank has its own license.

What you need to open a bank account

The finance policy explains how your bank account should be named.

All guiding units and levels are charities in their own right. Only a certain number of them are obliged to register as charities. Our charitable status page explains when you need to register as an individual charity with the charity regulator in your country.

When you open a bank account, either online or in person, you'll need to show some documents. What you'll need will depend on whether your unit or level is a registered charity or just has charitable status.

You should check with the bank you’re planning to use what they need from you. This is likely to include:

• Your charity registration documents and charity number, or a letter that confirms your unit or level is a part of Girlguiding and has charitable status. Email us at [email protected] and we can send you this.
• Your charity trust deeds, if you have them.
• Minutes from a meeting where the trustees agree to the account being opened, with a reference to the specific bank chosen.
• Proof of identity and proof of address for each signatory. They'll need to show proof of their identity, like a passport or driving licence. Check with your bank to see what documents they accept as proof of address, as each bank is different. This will be something like a recent utility bill, bank statement, a council tax bill, or a tenancy agreement or mortgage statement. If a signatory has recently started living at their current address, they may also need to provide address history.

If you’re setting up your account in a branch, you might need all signatories with you to sign the mandate.

Changing or removing signatories on a bank account

Our finance policy explains what being a signatory means, signatory responsibilities and who should be a signatory on your guiding account.

If a volunteer who’s a signatory changes role or leaves guiding, you may need to remove them as a signatory or change the signatories on your guiding bank account. We have a movers and leavers checklist (PDF) that commissioners can use to make sure everything is handed over correctly if a volunteer changes their role or leaves guiding.

If you need to update a signatory’s details, or change or remove a signatory on the account, you must contact your bank as soon as possible. When changing signatories, much of the information the bank needs will be similar to what was required when the account was opened. Your bank may need at least 1 signatory to attend the bank in person.

It's a good idea to start the process of removing a signatory while they’re still in contact, as this will make the process easier. Each bank will have a different process for you to follow, and it’s a good idea to leave plenty of time.

When you get in touch with your bank, ask what they’ll accept as evidence of the decision to remove or change a signatory. You might need to complete a form and provide a copy of minutes from a meeting where the removal of the signatory was agreed. At a unit level, you might not have regular meetings, but you can write some minutes up to evidence who was involved in making the decision and when the decision was made.

Make sure to update your leadership team and commissioner about changes of signatories. Keep a record of when the change took place and is confirmed by the bank, in case of any issues at a later date.

If you’ve removed a signatory because they’ve left local guiding, don’t remove them from GO until the bank has confirmed that the process is complete.

Banking online safely

Online and mobile banking can be a great way to manage finances for your unit or level. Make sure you bank online safely so that you don’t put unit or level finances at risk.

If there's more than 1 bank account for your unit or level, and they’re with different banks, you might be able to link them using open banking. This connects banks together, so you can see balances and transactions without having to login to each account separately.

Some top tips are to: 

• Make sure to download the official app for your bank, which you should be able to find on their website.
• Use extra security features like Verified by Visa and Mastercard Securecode whenever you can.
• Be wary of emails, texts or phone calls that say they’re from your bank, HMRC, or even the police. Never share passwords, PINs, or other personal details and don't click on suspicious links. If you’re unsure if a phone call is legitimate, hang up, switch off your phone and then call back using a number from somewhere else, like the bank website or a paper statement. If possible, call from a different phone or allow some time before calling back to be sure your phone line hasn’t been kept open.
• Don't transfer money to a ‘safe account’. These are run by scammers who try to get you to transfer all of your money to a 'safe account' by telling you that your bank account has been compromised.
• Only use secure Wi-Fi connections to access the account. Instead of using public Wi-Fi accounts, use your phone’s 3G, 4G, or 5G connection.
• Make sure your password or passcode isn't easy to guess. Don't use the same one for more than 1 account.
• Check that no one else can see your banking details on your computer or phone screen when you're looking at your account.
• Make sure your phone or computer has security settings enabled. Computers should always have up-to-date anti-virus software installed and mobile phones should have a password or code to unlock the device.

And these are the things to definitely avoid:

• Sharing your online banking or mobile banking credentials with anyone, including other volunteers.
• Using a shared email address as the address linked to the account, including ones used by family members or other volunteers. This is a data security risk.
• Linking your unit or level account to your personal online or mobile banking account through open banking.

Closing a bank account

When a unit closes, it's vital that the bank account associated with the unit is also closed. Having 1 signatory at a district or division level helps to make sure that a unit bank account can still be accessed if the unit leadership are unable to close the account themselves.

Before the process of closing the account starts, the leadership team must:

• Bank any remaining cheques or cash and pay all final expenses for your unit.
• Complete the end of year review process.
• Transfer any leftover funds to the level above them. The district or division should hold on to the money as a separate amount for 1 year, in case the unit reopens.
• Make sure any regular payments to or from the account are cancelled.

Different banks and building societies will have different processes for closing accounts. Most will give you a choice between doing it in person, by phone or by post. You'll need to give back or destroy any debit cards or chequebooks associated with the account.

You must ask for evidence that the account has been closed. Most banks will be able to give you this in a letter or email. Pass this on to your local commissioner to keep in their records. The unit or level can’t be removed from GO until the commissioner has evidence that the bank account has been closed.