Accounts for charities and community organisations
Bank accounts for community and non-profit organisations like clubs, charities and societies.
Which account is right for your organisation?
We have options to suit different types of community organisations.
The account that’s best suited to you will depend on how you’re set up. You can find out more below:
Charity Account
- For organisations registered with the charity regulator for England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
- Organisations with excepted or exempt charity status in England and Wales.
- Less than £250,000 paid in every 12 months.
- Not suitable if your organisation pays out surplus money as dividends or profits.
- Your organisation must not be a Financial Institution according to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) or Common Reporting Standards (CRS).
- Registered Charitable Trusts are not eligible.
Community Account
- For not-for-profit organisations serving their local community such as clubs and associations, unregistered societies, school clubs and PTAs.
- Less than £250,000 paid in every 12 months.
- Not suitable if your organisation pays out surplus money as dividends or profits.
- Not suitable if your organisation is structured and run for the personal benefit of members.
- Not available to co-operatives, property management companies and residents’ management companies (or equivalent).
1Apply online once your new Business Account is set up and you’ll get an instant decision. Eligibility for lending will be assessed as part of a separate application, and there is no guarantee of lending being granted. All lending is subject to status.
£200 to kick things off
Open a Community or Charity Account with us online and get £200. How’s that for a helping hand?
Three steps to lock in your £200 business boost.
- Apply between 2 March and 31 March.
- Spend £100 on your business debit card.*
- Set up 2 direct debits.*
*Within 2 months of opening your account.
Open a Community or Charity Account
Terms and conditions of the £200 offer
Helping you to help your community
Simple account fees
Non-profit organisations pay lower monthly account fees than businesses and organisations. You might still have to pay for some payments and services.
Add more than one signatory
For an extra layer of security, you can have up to four signatories on the account and update your signatory settings when you need.
Banking, simplified
The business banking app make it easier to make and take payments and manage your organisation’s finances.
Bank accounts for other types of organisations
Manage your finances more effectively
Whether you’re a charity, community group or another kind of not-for-profit, here you’ll find guidance and support to help manage your banking more effectively.
Bank on-the-go 24/7 with our business banking app
Log in at a time that suits you using your secure login details. For extra security, use fingerprint and Face ID on compatible devices.
- Check balances and transactions at the touch of a button.
- Pay in cheques via the app up to a daily limit of £20,000.
- Make payments of up to £250,000 per day.
Scan to download our app
Frequently asked questions
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Who is this account for?
- Clubs or societies that benefit the local or wider community but are not registered charities. This is commonly known as a not-for-profit organisation.
- Organisations that don’t operate for the personal benefit of members, shareholders or for the generation or distribution of profit.
- The above organinsations who will pay in no more than £250,000 to this account every 12 months.
Not suitable for?
- Charities.
- Schools where this is the main account – in receipt of state funding.
- Profitable clubs and societies – where any surplus money is paid out as dividends or profits.
- Co-operatives, Property Management Companies and Residents’ Management Companies where they are the sole members to benefit from the funds or activity.
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Who is this account for?
- Charities registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales, the Scottish Charity Register (OSCR) or The Charity Commission in Northern Ireland.
- Charities with Excepted or Exempt status in England and Wales as defined on the UK government website. Check the what is exempt or excepted charity status in the FAQs.
- Registered societies, including Friendly Societies.
- If no more than £250,000 will get paid in every 12 months – across this and any other Charity Account held by the organisation.
All trustees listed on Charities Commission or on the governing documents in Scotland need to be applied to the bank account as a Key Account Person. This is to make sure we meet our regulatory and legal requirements when onboarding and maintaining a relationship. The Entity name must match Charity Commission register. There is a limit of 12 Key Account People if you’re applying for a Charity Account and are new to Lloyds.
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table Account features
Account for charities
Account for clubs & societies
Account features
Available to
Account for charities
Registered Charities, including organisations with excepted charity status with less than £250,000 paid into the account every 12 months
Account for clubs & societies
Non-profit making clubs, societies, organisations with less than £250,000 paid into the account every 12 months
Account features
Monthly account fee
Account for charities
£0 each month
Account for clubs & societies
£4.25 each month
Account features
Electronic payments in
Account for charities
Free
Account for clubs & societies
Free
Account features
Electronic payments out
Account for charities
First 100 a month are free / £0.10 each after that
Account for clubs & societies
First 100 a month are free / £0.10 each after that
Account features
Cash exchanged
Account for charities
£1.25 for every £100
Account for clubs & societies
£1.25 for every £100
Account features
Cash paid in – Branch counter, ATM, depositpoint™, Nightsafe, Post Office® or other third-party deposit method
Account for charities
£0.75 for every £100
Account for clubs & societies
£0.75 for every £100
Account features
Cash paid in – Immediate Deposit Machine or Automated Deposit Machine
Account for charities
£0.42 for every £100
Account for clubs & societies
£0.42 for every £100
Account features
Cash payments out
Account for charities
£0.75 for every £100
Account for clubs & societies
£0.75 for every £100
Account features
Cheque paid in – Branch counter, ATM, depositpoint™, Nightsafe, Post Office® or other third-party deposit method
Account for charities
£0.50
Account for clubs & societies
£0.50
Account features
Cheque paid in – Immediate Deposit Machine or Business, Mobile Banking App
Account for charities
£0.42
Account for clubs & societies
£0.42
Account features
Cheque paid out
Account for charities
£0.50
Account for clubs & societies
£0.50
No credit interest is payable on these accounts. See the full account rates and charges and product terms and conditions.
Estimate monthly costs for your organisation with the Community Account calculator or Charity Account calculator.
UK Finance business account opening guide
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An exempt charity must be based in England and Wales but can’t register with the Charity Commission. It is not directly regulated by the Charity Commission and instead has a principal regulator.
- Churches and chapels belonging to some Christian denominations (see section 5).
- Charities that provide premises for some types of schools (see section 9).
- Scout and Guide groups (see section 10).
- Charitable service funds of the armed forces (see section 11).
- Student unions (see section 12).
More on excepted charity status
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If you’re from the list of organisations that can’t apply online, call us on 0345 835 7410.
We're open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (except for bank holidays).
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You can find out how Financial Institutions are defined under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) or Common Reporting Standards (CRS) on the UK government website.
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£200 new business account offer – Terms and Conditions
These Terms and Conditions explain how this offer works, including who can take part, and what you need to do to receive the payment.
In these terms and conditions “we”, “us” or “our” means Bank of Scotland plc.
1. About this offer
This offer is available to new business customers who apply online for a Business, Charity or Community Account between 2 March 2026 and 31 March 2026, subject to the eligibility requirements below.
This offer is also available to customers who switch an existing current account held with another bank to us, using the Current Account Switching Service (CASS), once their new account with us is open.
The Business, Charity or Community Account, and any transactions made on the account, will be subject to the terms and conditions for the account. Fees and charges may apply.
2. Who can take part
You can take part, if all the following apply:
- You submit an online application for a new Business, Charity or Community Account with us between 2 March 2026 and 31 March 2026. Saved or incomplete applications won’t be eligible.
- We complete all our standard checks on your Business, Charity or Community Account application, and we open it (see below for what we mean by this) by 15 April 2026.
- You do not already hold a Business, Charity or Community Account with us or Lloyds Bank plc.
3. What do we mean by ‘open’?
Your Business, Charity or Community Account is opened on the date we send you your sort code and account number. This will be after you applied online.
4. What you need to do to receive the £200
You’ll qualify for the £200 payment if, within two calendar months of when we open your Business, Charity or Community Account, you:
- Spend at least £100 using your Visa debit card on eligible purchases.
- Set up two direct debits from your new account.
Make sure there’s enough money in your account, or that you have an authorised overdraft in place (if available on your account) before you spend on your debit card or your direct debits are taken. If you don’t, your account may go into an unauthorised overdraft, and you may be charged fees and interest as set out in your account terms and conditions.
Eligible debit card spending
Debit card spending means purchases of goods or services using your Visa debit card.
Excluded transactions
The following do not count towards the £100 spend requirement:
- Cash withdrawals
- Bank transfers made with or without your debit card
- Debt repayments
- Direct debits and standing orders
- Transactions classified as gambling
- Financial services transactions (money transmission orders, purchases of foreign currency or travellers’ cheques and purchases of financial services such as insurance or investments.)
- Cryptocurrency transactions
- Refunds and chargebacks
- Bank charges, fees, interest, and any other non-purchase transactions
- Fraudulent transactions
Direct Debits
Direct debits must be set up with the organisations you’re paying.
If you’re switching to us using the Current Account Switch Service (CASS), any active direct debits moved to your new account as part of the switch will count towards the requirement to set up two direct debits from your account.
5. When we’ll pay you
If you meet the eligibility requirements above, we’ll pay £200 into your new Business, Charity or Community Account during the week starting 6 July 2026. We’ll email you before we make the payment to let you know when to expect it.
Your Business, Charity or Community Account must be open and able to receive payments at the time we try to make the payment.
We can’t pay the £200 into any other account or by cash or cheque.
The £200 payment is made gross, and you’re responsible for paying any tax due on the payment you receive.
We won’t contact you if your Business, Charity or Community Account doesn’t meet the offer requirements.
6. Other important information
- Only one £200 payment is available per customer. If you open more than one account with us, including accounts with Lloyds Bank or Bank of Scotland, we’ll only check the first account you open to see if it meets the offer requirements.
- Only Business, Charity or Community Accounts are eligible for this offer. All other account types are not eligible.
- Existing customers already holding a Business, Charity or Community Account are not eligible for this offer.
· This offer isn’t transferable, and we may change, pause or withdraw it at any time. If you’ve already opened your Business, Charity or Community Account when we make a change, or pause or withdraw the offer, it won’t affect you, as long as you meet the offer requirements.
- We won’t cover any fees or interest you incur if your account goes into an unauthorised overdraft as a result of making payments using your Visa debit card or direct debits.
- The £200 payment cannot be exchanged for any other benefits.
- Our decision on eligibility and payment is final.
Independent service quality survey results
Business current accounts
Published February 2026
As part of a regulatory requirement, an independent survey was conducted to ask approximately 1,200 customers of each of the 17 largest business current account providers if they would recommend their provider to other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs*). The results represent the view of customers who took part in the survey.
Overall service quality
We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs.
*SMEs include businesses, clubs, charities and societies with an annual turnover/income of up to £25m (exclusive of VAT and other turnover-related taxes).
Ranking
The requirement to publish the Financial Conduct Authority Service Quality Information for Business current accounts can be found here.