Don't use this bank if at all possible

The most frustrating service I have ever experienced. They make it as difficult as possible for you to set up or access your account and continuously find problems and never offer to help you solve them. Definitely detrimental to your mental health.

Reviewed on 4th November 2021

Rose

Frustrating shambles

How l wish we hadn't gone with CAF bank. They don't seem to communicate how things work efficiently and now l can't pay cash in because all the HSBC branches near me are closed . I have been told that CAF are trying to think how to resolve this issue... Read more

How l wish we hadn't gone with CAF bank. They don't seem to communicate how things work efficiently and now l can't pay cash in because all the HSBC branches near me are closed . I have been told that CAF are trying to think how to resolve this issue but haven't as yet found a solution its 2021 not 1950 .

Reviewed on 17th September 2021

Wendy

CAF Bank staff

We hit a problem regarding acceptance of a cheque by another bank to pay our staff salaries. This was a complicated urgent matter and Vicky and Sharon (CAF staff members were more than helpful and very patient in resolving this problem and it took... Read more

We hit a problem regarding acceptance of a cheque by another bank to pay our staff salaries. This was a complicated urgent matter and Vicky and Sharon (CAF staff members were more than helpful and very patient in resolving this problem and it took over 2 hours of their time guiding us as novices through IT processes - thank you so much. Very customer friendly staff.

Reviewed on 26th July 2021

Age UK Oldham

Awful service

I spent an hour on the phone this week talking to a lady trying to sort out basics and discuss on line banking. By the end of the hour I wanted to either cry or get angry but basically I gave up. Looking for an alternative bank now.

Reviewed on 22nd July 2021

Sue Townsend

Stay as far away from this bank as you can...

If I could have given a zero star rating I would! The time it takes to get the simplest task done is unbelievable, what takes a few min's online at most every other bank can take 30 days or more as they still require you to fill in a form, print it... Read more

If I could have given a zero star rating I would! The time it takes to get the simplest task done is unbelievable, what takes a few min's online at most every other bank can take 30 days or more as they still require you to fill in a form, print it and post it to them. Very unhelpful and sometimes rude staff don't help to resolve issues you may have.
All in all a very poor bank with online facilities that were outdated 10 years ago.

Reviewed on 8th July 2021

Andrew Quinton

Regularly can't do basics online

it is so poor...such an effort to get anything done. Letters have been 'lost', website doesn't work. account gets blocked.....it is a very very poor experience overall

Reviewed on 28th May 2021

James

Expensive

We are a very small local charity with cash at bank of about £30,000. The number of transactions on our bank account are few and far between - no more than 5 per year. CAF Bank introduced a monthly fee of £5 some years ago, rising to £8 per month re... Read more

We are a very small local charity with cash at bank of about £30,000. The number of transactions on our bank account are few and far between - no more than 5 per year. CAF Bank introduced a monthly fee of £5 some years ago, rising to £8 per month recently. I challenged their charges by letter and asked them to take into account the frequency of our transactions. They were completely intransigent - no negotiation, no dialogue - their letter in reply was both impersonal and abrupt summarised as "take it or leave it". The inappropriateness of their charges is further compounded by they extremely poor and clunky website whiuch is not in the slightest user friendly. So we left CAF Bank for NatWest who offer a free banking service for charities.
Not recommended

Reviewed on 13th May 2021

MM

So disappointing!

Despite their claims to act as a trusted intermediary between you and your charity of choice, they are unhelpful, slow to respond and do not act in the interests of the organisations they claim to help. It took weeks for them to transfer money from... Read more

Despite their claims to act as a trusted intermediary between you and your charity of choice, they are unhelpful, slow to respond and do not act in the interests of the organisations they claim to help. It took weeks for them to transfer money from the CAF account to the selected charities. I wish I had gone directly. Avoid CAF.

Reviewed on 3rd February 2021

Katemba

Avoid this bank at all costs

We have endless problems with CAF. Cards get blocked if someone spends, for example, £1500. The staff are incredibly rude and unhelpful. Even though it’s hard to move banks as a charity, we will, and as soon as possible.

Reviewed on 20th January 2021

Vbg2005

Not worth extortionate cost

Our charity moved several accounts to CAF and have come to regret it. Very clunky website; no automatic feed to accounts packages; so time-consuming to authorise payments; no secure messaging (you have to phone them and then they say you need to post a... Read more

Our charity moved several accounts to CAF and have come to regret it. Very clunky website; no automatic feed to accounts packages; so time-consuming to authorise payments; no secure messaging (you have to phone them and then they say you need to post a letter); constant Know Your Customer reviews... And now, the cherry on the cake, £8 per month for the privilege and £0.50 per cheque.

Reviewed on 8th January 2021

Caroline R

Web site fail

The web site is clunky and difficult to navigate the security. Impossible when the site fails to send a PIN to your phone. Been happening for several days now. Tried the phone but long wait times and then failed to gain access, with just one detail... Read more

The web site is clunky and difficult to navigate the security. Impossible when the site fails to send a PIN to your phone. Been happening for several days now. Tried the phone but long wait times and then failed to gain access, with just one detail incorrect. So have to go to main account holder to sort out. This lot just involve you in too much work.

Reviewed on 23rd April 2020

Jolly Greengiant

Online login often impossible to use. The worst online facility I have ever encountered.

Too cumbersome to use and monthly charges are taken even when there have not been any transactions. The charges for an accidental overdraft on a C/A are excessive and applied even when there is plenty of money in an associated gold A/C.

Reviewed on 12th April 2020

Jon Sula

Third Rate "Bank"

Supposedly a bank that is there to help charities, CAF falls far short of the requirement, Pedestrian, bureaucratic and petty-fogging, - don't touch them with a barge-pole!

Reviewed on 13th September 2019

gulfw

A complete 'shower' frankly

In 2014 I selected CAF Bank for our UK registered charity Gambia School Support. Their performance has been marked by a catalogue of errors and I see scant evidence of them trying to improve their... Read more

In 2014 I selected CAF Bank for our UK registered charity Gambia School Support. Their performance has been marked by a catalogue of errors and I see scant evidence of them trying to improve their service.
They are leaden footed, bureaucratic and often inept.
We would move banks immediately if the prospect of the admin involved was not so intimidating.
Pull your socks up CAF if you take the trouble to read this (which I doubt).

Reviewed on 22nd July 2019

Josh dale-harris

CAF bank - too late to change now

We opened an account with CAF Bank on the recommendation of the Charity Commission soon after becoming a registered UK charity. I regret this decision but as our head office is not based in the UK it is now too difficult to change bank. We tried but... Read more

We opened an account with CAF Bank on the recommendation of the Charity Commission soon after becoming a registered UK charity. I regret this decision but as our head office is not based in the UK it is now too difficult to change bank. We tried but RBS lost our trustee's information!
CAF bank have ridiculous security measures, for example if you fail a security question you will be cut off with no support given. They informed us by letter that they were implementing changes resulting in the CAF account not being accessible in certain countries in the world. This included Sri Lanka where our head office is based. Luckily, for some reason, this ridiculous security measure has not been implemented. The bank do not respond to online requests for information in a timely fashion and they are very much 'telephone based' - which is not suitable for an INGO. A friend opened a charity account with Natwest Bank and she has commented how satisfied she is with the service.

Reviewed on 21st December 2018

Rachel Ireton

Worse bank ever

I have just written a glowing review about my 20+ year experience of personal banking with RBS. I now want to talk about CAF Bank who were recommended to us by the Charity Commission, if it was not a hugely complicated task to change my charity bank... Read more

I have just written a glowing review about my 20+ year experience of personal banking with RBS. I now want to talk about CAF Bank who were recommended to us by the Charity Commission, if it was not a hugely complicated task to change my charity bank account, myself and the trustees would have done so months ago. CAF have military style security systems in place...if you fail security questions they cut the call and insist you ring back. The staff are rude and condescending...I actually feel nervous calling them, for fear they think I'm not who I say I am. They have recently started charging us for the privilege of using their terrible service and they have restricted access to online banking in Sri Lanka, where my charity works! If I could turn back the clock I would never have signed up with CAF, but due to having trustees/signatories around the world - switching accounts is too complicated. Stay well clear of CAF.

Reviewed on 23rd September 2017

Racheal

Worse bank ever

I have just written a glowing review about my 20+ year experience of personal banking with RBS. I now want to talk about CAF Bank who were recommended to us by the Charity Commission, if it was not a hugely complicated task to change my charity bank... Read more

I have just written a glowing review about my 20+ year experience of personal banking with RBS. I now want to talk about CAF Bank who were recommended to us by the Charity Commission, if it was not a hugely complicated task to change my charity bank account, myself and the trustees would have done so months ago. CAF have military style security systems in place...if you fail security questions they cut the call and insist you ring back. The staff are rude and condescending...I actually feel nervous calling them, for fear they think I'm not who I say I am. They have recently started charging us for the privilege of using their terrible service and they have restricted access to online banking in Sri Lanka, where my charity works! If I could turn back the clock I would never have signed up with CAF, but due to having trustees/signatories around the world - switching accounts is too complicated. Stay well clear of CAF.

Reviewed on 23rd September 2017

Racheal

Worse bank ever

I have just written a glowing review about my 20+ year experience of personal banking with RBS. I now want to talk about CAF Bank who were recommended to us by the Charity Commission, if it was not a hugely complicated task to change my charity bank... Read more

I have just written a glowing review about my 20+ year experience of personal banking with RBS. I now want to talk about CAF Bank who were recommended to us by the Charity Commission, if it was not a hugely complicated task to change my charity bank account, myself and the trustees would have done so months ago. CAF have military style security systems in place...if you fail security questions they cut the call and insist you ring back. The staff are rude and condescending...I actually feel nervous calling them, for fear they think I'm not who I say I am. They have recently started charging us for the privilege of using their terrible service and they have restricted access to online banking in Sri Lanka, where my charity works! If I could turn back the clock I would never have signed up with CAF, but due to having trustees/signatories around the world - switching accounts is too complicated. Stay well clear of CAF.

Reviewed on 23rd September 2017

Racheal