Cancer charity tells TFN it can't access £25k it has promised a hospice

Serious failures at a charity bank are still causing chaos – weeks after they were first reported.

TFN has received multiple reports from across the UK of charities being unable to access their accounts after an ‘upgrade’ to the CAF Bank system went live.

Among those affected is a small cancer charity which cannot access £25,000 it has promised to a hospice to help pay for a patient transport vehicle.

Customers of CAF Bank have been reporting issues since an upgrade went live in June.

They say they have not been able to access accounts causing cash flow and payroll chaos while others are also reporting long and frustrating waits for customer support.

Some angry customers are now demanding an inquiry into the fiasco.

Lyn McLeod helps run the Gordon McLeod Leukaemia Fund, based in Herefordshire.

She told TFN: “We are a small charity, we mainly support our local hospice and in the past we have also supported Acorn's children's hospice, the local hospital, The Megan Baker Foundation and individuals. 

“For three weeks now we have been trying to access £25,000 to give to the hospice for a much needed vehicle to transport patients. You just cannot get through to this bank. 

“My husband has managed to have two conversations with no real outcome because the people manning the phones don't appear to have the knowledge needed to put things right. 

“We have been trying for days to get through to them again to no avail. You are told to call back later by a machine (of course), you try again and you still can't speak to anyone, or told there is a four hour wait!

“We are fortunate that we don't have to pay wages as a lot of the bigger charities have to and they can't get access either. This is an absolute disgrace - they have our money! 

“There really needs to be an enquiry into the workings of this bank. We feel so let down and so very angry... we have promised this money to the hospice and this so-called bank has put us in a very embarrassing position.”

Another customer said: “I am getting to the point of despair with CAF. I am the treasurer for a charity and it took me two weeks to get access to our account. That only happened after I wrote a strongly worded letter to them, and mentioned the financial ombudsman. And trying to phone for help was pointless as I ended up in a queue of 100-plus.

“However, after a couple of days of access I am locked out again because when I try to enter the one time pin number to log in, I get a message saying my mobile phone number is not recognised.

“When I tried phoning them about this I discovered that they weren't even taking calls anymore, just rebuffing me with a message saying "please call back later"

“Our money will be moving elsewhere - that's if we ever get access to it again!”

Last month we told of the problems My Cowdenbeath CIC has been having since the new system went live.

The group’s Stuart Duffy said: “It’s a disaster and there should be far greater scrutiny of this bank, how they’ve planned for this implementation, how they’ve dealt with the engagement with customers, how they are fixing issues and the speed of their customer service responsiveness to the crisis.

“For organisations who are trying their best to support communities in crisis already, this has been handled appallingly and the people at the bank responsible for this should be feeling the heat from their customer base, their shareholders, form the press and from government - it is not good enough.”

CAF Bank has apologised to angry customers, saying that the upgrade was necessary but admitting that some aspects are “not functioning as planned”.

Alison Taylor, chief executive, said: “We are 100% focused on supporting our customers through the transition and helping them with the new online banking service. I am very sorry for the disruption and waits on calls that some customers have experienced. We have significantly increased the number of colleagues available to answer calls and assist customers.

“Updating our banking system has been a significant, but essential undertaking, after years of planning, preparing and testing. 

“The vast majority of our customers are online, with thousands of payments being made and received every day. As a bank that is wholly owned by a charity, the work of our customers is central to everything we do, and we are fully committed to resolving any challenges as quickly as possible.”