Keeping your community organisation safe: why banks need updated information

Read time: 2 mins  Added: 08/09/26

Banks are required by law to keep customer information up to date. This helps protect your community organisation and the wider financial system. This requirement is set by UK law and overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

From time to time, you may be asked to confirm or update your community organisation’s details. This is called Ongoing Know Your Customer (OKYC).

By sharing up-to-date information, you help protect your community organisation from fraud, financial crime and money laundering. It also helps banks to continue providing your community organisation with banking services safely.

What information will a bank require?

Banks must maintain an accurate understanding of your community organisation so they can help keep it safe, and the information that they request will vary depending on what information is already held, but may include:

  • Trustees’ details (including names, addresses, dates of birth and nationality)
  • Who is authorised to manage the account
  • Changes to your community organisation’s activities
  • Sources of funding
  • Updated contact details

Where possible, banks use publicly available information. However, if additional details are required, they may contact you directly with clear guidance on what is needed.

Often, a request may be based on information suggesting there could have been a change in your community organisation. In these cases, you may simply be asked to confirm whether your details have changed, and to provide updates if needed.

When your bank contacts you they should tell you what they require from you and when they need it by.

What happens if I don’t respond?

To meet legal and regulatory requirements, banks need to collect certain information from you. If this isn’t provided after reminders and follow-ups, they may need to restrict or close your account.

How can community organisations help keep information up to date?

You can support this process by letting your bank know about:

  • Changes to trustees or trustee information
  • Committee members
  • Contact details
  • Who can use the account
  • What your community organisation does

It’s important to regularly check and respond to any bank correspondence within the timescales provided. It is also important to keep your contact details up to date, which can be done via:

  • Online Banking
  • Telephone Banking – 0345 072 5555 - Our automated service is fast and easy to use. You can complete a number of requests over the phone once you have completed authentication checks
  • Your Relationship Manager

Tools to help you manage your community organisation more efficiently

Community organisations often have limited time and resources and administrative tasks can be challenging alongside day-to-day work.

We are continuing to improve our digital services to make managing your community organisation’s account quicker and easier.

Through online and mobile banking, you can benefit from useful features such as:

  • Updating your address and mandate details
  • Making and managing payments more efficiently
  • Depositing cheques using our mobile app (up to £20,000 per cheque, per day)

Our aim is to reduce manual steps, save you time, and make it easier to keep your community organisation’s details up to date - so you can focus on your work.

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