Savings For Good
Community Investment Tax Relief (CITR) Base Rate Tracker Business Account
Support UK charities and social enterprises benefiting from a unique combination of savings interest and Tax Relief. Your savings create positive social impact and may deliver a higher overall return than a traditional savings account.
Summary
Key features
- Minimum opening balance : £5,000
- Five-year term
- Interest paid on 100% of your deposit when Bank of England base rate exceeds 3.25%
- 75% of your deposit qualifies for CITR tax relief
- 5% tax relief each year for five years of the qualifying amount
- FSCS protection on the eligible deposits up to £120,000, subject to scheme rules and limits
Potential total return
Based on the current Bank of England base rate of 4.00% and 3.25% floor the range of estimated equivalent annual returns are :
– Basic rate tax: 4.69% to 5.44%
– Higher rate tax: 6.25% to 7.00%
– Additional rate tax: 6.82% to 7.57%
– Corporation tax: 5.00% to 5.75%
The lower values assume savings interest falls to 0.00% if Bank of England base rates falls to 3.25%
The higher figure assumes the current savings interest rate of 0.75% gross / AER continues to apply.
Should there be increases to Bank of England base rate the interest rate will increase resulting in higher equivalent annual returns.
Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change in future.
**Refer to our CITR Base Rate Tracker – Scheme Details & Summary Box for full details and worked examples. of potential returns to savers.
CITR Period
5-years
Tracking Rate*
3.25%
below BoE base rate
Income Tax Relief**
5.00%
per annum
You can monitor the Bank of England base rate on its website.
Your eligible deposits with
The Charity Bank Limited are protected up to a total of £120,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK’s deposit guarantee scheme. Any deposits you hold above the limit are unlikely to be covered. View and download the Charity Bank Deposit Guarantee Scheme: Information Sheet here. For further information visit www.fscs.org.uk.
Summary box
Five Years.
£5,000
£500,000 (dependent on available CITR capacity).
Initial deposit(s) can be made by cheque or electronic transfer from your nominated account only. From the day we confirm your account is open you have 14-calendar days to fund it with one or multiple deposits up to a maximum account balance of £500,000 or in excess of this limit if pre-approved by us. If your account is not funded to the minimum account balance of £5,000 within this period, it will be closed, and any funds returned to you. No further payments permitted once the funding period has ended.
Interest will be paid gross.
Interest is calculated daily and added to your account quarterly following month end in March, June, September and December and on closure of your account. There is no bonus interest payable.
Based on an interest rate of 0.75% gross / 0.75% AER (4.00% base rate), the estimated balance on a £5,000 deposit after 12 months would be £5,037.61. The estimated balance on a £100,000 deposit after 12 months would be £100,752.11. These illustrative examples assume no withdrawals, no changes to the Bank of England base rate over the period and interest is paid and compounded quarterly. (The illustrative examples do not take into account the individual circumstances of a saver.) Please note savings interest would form part of the overall return for savers and needs to be factored alongside tax relief as shown in our ‘worked examples’.
To obtain maximum tax relief the funds must be held in an account for a period of 5-years. No withdrawals are permitted for the first 3 years. Up to 25% can be withdrawn in Year 4 and up to 50% withdrawn in Year 5, upon 91 days written notice. Any funds being withdrawn must be requested using a signed withdrawal form and credited to your nominated account.
For example if a saver put £15,000 into a CITR Base Rate Tracker Account on 18th April 2026. The eligible amount for each tax year for which relief may be claimed is £11,250 (75% of £15,000), which would mean a tax relief of £562.50 (5% of £11,250) may be claimed for the tax year 2026/27 (the tax year in which the saving was made) and for each of the four subsequent tax years. (UK tax legislation, which may be subject to change, may have an impact on your personal tax position.) Please note tax relief would form part of the overall return for savers and needs to be factored alongside any savings interest as shown in our ‘worked examples’.
You can manage your account by post and email or if registered via our mobile banking app. We can answer any questions directly by email, over the phone or via secure message if registered via our mobile banking app.
We shall write to you ahead of the certificates’ expiry date with options available to you at the time.
Apply by post
If you have any difficulty viewing documents, you can find all product terms and conditions and application forms in our Savings Document Library here.
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Talk to our UK based Savings Team about your needs.
Savings Account Statements
Click on the button to access information on when you will normally receive statements and how you can request ad hoc ones or set recurring dates to suit your needs.
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View Business Savings AccountsFrequently Asked Questions
Are my savings protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme?
Charity Bank benefits from its own banking licence and is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
A. Yes, your eligible deposits with Charity Bank are currently protected up to the £120,000 limit of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the UK’s deposit guarantee scheme. Any balances above £120,000 are not protected.
For joint accounts eligible deposits for each account holder are protected up the £120,000FSCS limit (making a total of £240,000).
Deposits from large companies and small local authorities are covered by the FSCS deposit protection from 30th January 2017 up to the FSCS limit of £120,000.
Please refer to our Deposit Guarantee Scheme: Information Sheet.
You can visit the FSCS website for more information and check whether your covered.
How can I make my initial deposit into a new savings account?
Once we confirm to you by email that your account is open, you will have 14-calendar days to fund it. During this window you can make one or multiple payments by any of these methods.
- Electronic payment from your nominated account.
- Cheque drawn from your nominated account.
OR
- Internal transfer of maturing funds or funds held in an existing Charity Bank account.
Once this period has ended, if your account hasn’t been funded at least to its minimum account balance, it will be closed, and confirmation will be issued to you. We will send you a reminder to fund your account after 7-days to ensure such cases are kept to a minimum.
We partner with NatWest as our clearing bank. From 3 May 2024 we were live on the Confirmation of Payee (CoP) service. You can read more about how it works and what this means to you on our dedicated CoP webpage. We continue to encourage you to please take due care and diligence when making payment by electronic transfer. Your confirmation of account opening email, will provide your unique 8-digit account to be used with our sort code: 60-83-16 and you are welcome to contact us by phone: 01732 441944 or email: [email protected] to double-check anything.
Please always quote your application reference number* and/or surname as a payment reference and ensure your bank correctly quotes the reference when they are making a payment on your behalf, otherwise it may be rejected and returned to you without interest. You’ll earn interest from the business day on which the payment was received.
*If you completed your account application online, you will have been given an application reference number.
How do I operate my account?
All accounts are operated by post. We can answer any questions directly by email or over the phone, with our friendly UK based Savings Team, who are always willing to support you. Currently we do not offer online services once your account is open.
How does Charity Bank support vulnerable customers wishing to apply for an account?
We understand that challenging situations, whether temporary or permanent, can make it more difficult to apply for and maintain your account with us. Please refer to our Customer Support guidance or contact us by phone: 01732 441944 or by email: [email protected] should you need any support before completing your application.
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