Charity and Community Bank Account
For registered charities, co-operatives, credit unions and community-interest companies
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Be in with a chance of winning £10,000 for your organisation when you save in a Charity and Community Bank Account or linked savings account until 31 July 2025. Terms and conditions apply.
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No monthly service fee
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Eligible to apply for grants from the Customer Donation Fund
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Discounted merchant services terminals, free Go Get Paid access and accountancy software integration
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50% off a Zellar subscription
All definitions are explained within the tariff PDF. Read the full tariff for all fees and charges, terms and details.
Please note: This account was previously named Community Directplus.
| Extras | Details | How to apply |
Savings View our savings accounts |
Choose a savings option that suits your business goals | During your application |
Overdrafts View our overdraft options here |
Organise your cashflow | During your application |
Ready to check your eligibility and apply?
Charity and Community Bank Account £10,000 prize draw
We're offering one organisation the chance to win a cash prize of £10,000 when you save in a Charity and Community Bank Account (formerly called a Community Directplus account) or linked savings account until 31 July 2025.
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For every £5,000 held in your Charity and Community Bank Account and linked business savings account(s) on 31 July 2025, you'll automatically receive one entry into the prize draw. Subject to eligibility and terms and conditions apply.
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If you do not have a Charity and Community Bank Account yet, you have until 31 July 2025 to open and deposit at least £5,000 into the account, or linked savings account to be entered into the draw.
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To celebrate 10 years as Best Charity Banking Provider, all Charity and Community Bank Account customers who have banked with us for 10 years or longer will automatically receive an extra entry into the prize draw
Bank online, on the phone, on the go
Manage your account in a way that suits you
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Mobile banking
Manage multiple businesses from the same account, multiple users with payment authority, transaction history and payments
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Online banking
Send a variety of payment types, receive fraud and account alerts, have safe and secure open banking and have a daily limit up to £250,000
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Financial Director Online
Optional subscription service for complex payment types like bulk BACS, enable multiple business management and get a dedicated help desk
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In branch or Post Office® banking
Get banking support in branch from friendly advisors and deposit cheques and money or get change from your local Post Office®.
Our business tools
Grow and manage your business with a range of optional tools
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Free and easy business payment requests
Go Get Paid is a free app to quickly send payment requests to anyone
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Start a sustainability journey
Zellar helps you manage and improve your business’ sustainability goals
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Easy ways for your customers to pay
Clover has lots of options for payment and commerce solutions
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Protect your business with insurance
AXA Insurance provides options for your organisation and property
I'm ready to apply
Check your eligibility and apply.
If you've already started one, you can continue your application here.
You can watch our tutorial video on how to apply for our Charity and Community Bank Account.
Check if you're eligible
To be eligible for the Charity and Community bank account you and key individuals must be:
- 18 or over
- A UK resident with a business address in the UK
- Free from county court judgements (CCJs), bankruptcy and individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) over the last six years
- Free from missed payments on any personal credit obligations in the last six months
Your organisation must be one of the following:
- Registered charity (exempted charities must provide a letter of authority with their application)
- Co-operative or community benefit society (if applicable, confirmation of registration with Co-operatives UK and community benefits society act required)
- Credit union (evidence of FCA regulated status required)
- Community interest company (must be registered at Companies House)
And your account must not go above any one of the following annual account limits:
- Credit turnover more than £2 million
- Deposit more than £100,000 in cash
- Deposit more than 5,000 cheques
The Co-operative Bank reserves the right to review the account tariff for customers who exceed any one of the following annual limits of credit turnover exceeding £2m, depositing more than £100,000 in cash, or depositing more than 5,000 cheques.
If your organisation is a limited company, the following must be true:
- The director has never been disqualified
- The business has never been subject to insolvency or an intention to dissolve
- The business has not had a negative net worth in the last set of financial accounts
Your application is subject to status. This means we’ll assess your financial circumstances and complete credit checks.
Not eligible for this account?
You may be eligible for one of our other accounts.
Read and save important documents
Read the following important documents and save copies for your future reference.
Business account Terms and Conditions PDF
Charity and Community Bank Account Tariff PDF
Standards of Lending Practice PDF
How we use your personal information PDF
FSCS Information Sheet and Exclusions List PDF
Current Account Switch Agreement PDF
To view information on charging periods and pre-notification dates please visit our account charging page.
As a provider of UK business bank accounts, we have agreed to a basic set of information we'll need from you to set up your UK business current account.
Find out what you'll need to provide using the business banking checklist from UK Finance.
Applying on behalf of an organisation? Please read
- Gather all the key information about your Organisation and the Key Individuals associated with the Organisation. By “Key Individuals”, we mean (i) You, (ii) all the other Directors/Trustees/Officers who are responsible for managing the Organisation and (iii) any Authorised Users whom the Organisation has appointed to also be responsible for operating the account. Without this information we cannot progress any further with the application. You can find a list of the required information in the 'Information you'll need' section on the first page of the application form.
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We will check the details of any Key Individuals named on the application against credit reference and fraud prevention agency records. You need to be entitled to disclose information about any other Key Individuals named on the application. By continuing with the application, you confirm that you have gained prior consent from the other Key Individuals named on the application to disclose their information to us for the purposes mentioned above.
Applying as an existing Charity and Community Bank Account holder?
If you currently have an open Charity and Community Bank Account with us, please apply for an additional account by completing our online application form. If your account requires three signatories or more to sign documents, you will receive an additional signing pack email from the Account Opening team to capture all required signatures.
Criminals recruit people to help them hide their criminal profits
Never open a bank account in either your name/business name for someone else to use, or agree to move money through your account for someone else – even if they offer you money in return. If you do this, you could be committing a crime with serious consequences.
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Please note: Your application is subject to status. This means we’ll assess your financial circumstances and complete credit checks.
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We aim to review your application within 5 business days
Apply
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Continue with a charities, co-operatives, credit unions and community-interest companies application
Already have a business current account somewhere else?
The Current Account Switch Service makes switching your account simple, fast and free.
Learn how to switch your business account to us.
Not found what you're looking for?
Review and compare our business current accounts.
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Protecting your access to cash
We know many people rely on cash to get things done. And new rules from the Financial Conduct Authority will help protect your access to it from 18 September 2024.
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Changes to scam reimbursements
There is now more protection for victims of certain types of scams. Read more about the changes to scam reimbursements
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Your eligible deposits held by a UK establishment of The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK's deposit guarantee scheme. This limit is applied to the total of any deposits you have with The Co-operative Bank and smile. Any total deposits you hold above the limit between these brands are unlikely to be covered.
Please read further information on the FSCS scheme here or visit their website.