Charities in the South East are facing difficulties paying staff and suppliers after CAF Bank suspended its online services due to suspected cyber fraud on July 24. The bank serves over 14,000 non-profit causes across the UK and has not given a timeline for when the issue will be resolved. Chief executives of affected charities, such as Kevan Hodges of 21 Together and Bali Rodgers of Safer Communities Alliance, have expressed frustration at the lack of communication and reassurance from CAF Bank. The bank's core operations are reportedly unaffected, but online banking is unavailable until further notice.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Charities in the South East are facing financial difficulties after being cut off from their online bank accounts by CAF Bank, which serves over 14,000 non-profit organizations across the UK. The bank's online services were suspended on July 24th following reports of suspected cyber fraud. As a result, some charities, such as 21 Together in Maidstone, are struggling to manage essential operations like payroll, leaving staff and suppliers unpaid. Charities are worried that wages won't be paid, causing stress and financial hardship for those affected.
Written for “UK Charity Sector Fraud Scandal” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article presents a critical view of CAF Bank's handling of the situation, using words like 'appalling', 'stressful', and 'not good enough' to describe their response. The tone is also slightly sympathetic towards the charities affected, emphasizing their difficulties and feelings of powerlessness.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score +0.25 for article 69 · logged 2026-07-30
- Published
Charities across the South East are worried they will not be able to pay staff and suppliers after being cut off from their online bank accounts.
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they → publish → accounts
CAF Bank, which is based in West Malling in Kent and serves more than 14,000 non-profit causes UK-wide, said its online services had been suspended since 24 July following reports of suspected cyber fraud.
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services → base → fraud
As a result, the ability of some charities to manage essential operations like payroll has been impacted, such as Maidstone-based 21 Together, which helps people with Down's syndrome.
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which → manage → syndrome
Its chief executive Kevan Hodges, who has a 13-strong team of education specialists and part-time staff, described the situation as "appalling".
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who → have → situation
"People are concerned that wages won't get paid because of this, and that's just stressful when they have bills to pay," he said.
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he → pay → bills
"My team have wasted days trying to get through to (CAF Bank), but all in vain."
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team → waste → vain
He added that when they finally did get hold of someone at the bank, which is owned by the Charities Aid Foundation, they were told to fill out an online form which "would be looked at tomorrow".
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which → add → form
Others have also voiced their frustrations, such as Bali Rodgers, who is chief executive of Safer Communities Alliance.
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who → voice → Alliance
"It's just not good enough," she said.
"
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she → say → ?
Many of the grassroots organisations I represent - churches, YMCAs, vets - have CAF as their bank, but they are slowly losing trust in it."
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they → represent → it
Rodgers added that she had received "no reassurance" about the current situation from the bank, while any information had been "very inconsistent".
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information → add → bank
"It's especially sad that this has happened in the summer when lots of extra projects are up and running," she said.
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she → happen → projects
"People are unable to access their own money and have been left feeling powerless - it makes me really angry."
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me → access → money
In a statement, chief executive Alison Taylor said: "I am very sorry for the disruption this has caused for our customers.
"
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this → say → customers
On Monday we informed them that the online banking service will be unavailable until further notice.
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service → inform → notice
We are working with external experts to fix an issue we identified with third-party software related to our online banking portal.
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we → work → portal
Importantly, the core bank is not affected."
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bank → affect → ?
Taylor added: "We appreciate how difficult this is for our customers and want this to be resolved as quickly as possible, but we cannot restore access until we are assured the issue is safely resolved.
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issue → add → access
"We are still able to support as extra teams are available on the phone, and we are prioritising time-sensitive payments such as payroll."
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we → support → payroll
