UK charities spend an estimated 12 million hours on banking administration each year, a report has found.
This is equivalent to about 6,000 full-time staff working on nothing but banking tasks, the Charity Finance Group’s third annual charity banking report says.
The estimate was based on survey responses from more than 2,400 charities regarding time spent on banking tasks, which was then scaled across the UK’s approximately 204,000 registered charities.
The survey ran from 6 February to 30 April and consulted charity staff, trustees and volunteers with responsibility for their organisation’s banking.
The CFG’s 2026 report found some banking challenges identified in previous years were easing, but new pressures, including the loss of local and in-person services, were growing fast.
Every survey respondent reported experiencing at least one banking challenge in the past two years, the report says.
The most common challenge was the difficulty of changing signatories on account mandates, which was cited by 53 per cent of respondents
But this was a reduction compared with 2024, when 75 per cent of charities said changing signatories had been an issue for them.
Nearly 40 per cent of charities mentioned that charges for banking services were a key challenge.
The proportion of respondents that reported being charged for services, such as depositing cash and cheques, rose from 20 per cent in 2024 to 37 per cent in 2026, while the proportion reporting being charged for holding a bank account increased from 27 per cent to 35 per cent.
Concerns about access to in-person banking services had also increased significantly compared with 2024, rising from 4 per cent to nearly one-third this year.
Many respondents cited bank closures as a key reason for their concern and the CFG said nearly 1,000 UK bank branches had closed since its last banking report in 2025.
The report says that although nearly 80 per cent of charities now bank, at least partly, online, this leaves a “substantial minority” of about 20 per cent that are finding it increasingly hard to access in-person services.
The report found the impact of branch closures was felt most acutely in rural areas, where 55 per cent of charities said in-person banking was barely available or not available at all.
Smaller charities were also significantly affected, with one-third of charities with income of less than £1m saying they faced limited access to banking due to branch closures or restricted opening hours.
The report suggests the recent introduction of banking hubs – of which there are more than 200 across the UK – and the planned expansion of this network could help to fill the gap.
But it adds that the benefit for charities would “depend on the extent of knowledge that community bankers have about charity banking”.
The report found that challenges associated with banking were having “tangible day-to-day impacts” on staff, trustees and volunteers, either through charges or indirectly through time spent on banking.
Nearly 30 per cent of respondents said that dealing with bank management was stressful; while 23 per cent said there were unreasonable time costs involved.
The survey found that 16 per cent said there were unreasonable financial costs involved and 14 per cent said banking challenges put their financial management at risk.
The report urges banks and financial institutions to simplify their processes, review charges for small charities and train their staff on charity banking, including community bankers in hubs.
Clare Mills, co-chief executive of the CFG and co-author of the report, said: “Too many charity staff and volunteers are losing time on admin that could and should be going to the people and causes charities exist to serve.
“These lost hours are draining the time and goodwill of volunteers and staff, and extra unnecessary pressures are being created at a time when charities are already operating in a very challenging environment.”