Better banking for tombola takings

WHAT IS the lot of the hapless treasurer for the average small club or society? Trudging up the high street loaded with £1,200 in mixed notes and coin in a carrier bag; calculating the 20ps, 10ps, 5ps and 1ps needed to make up 15 floats for the Ch ristmas fair; counting them out in piles on the kitchen table, and scrabbling around for yoghurt pots to act as makeshift tills; providing £100 in cash to pay the man with the bouncy castle.

The banking system may not be able to help with the yoghurt pots - but how helpful are the banks in other respects to organisations such as school PTAs, Brownie packs, school governors with their own funds and swimming clubs?

All these small, non-commercial accounts have had a poor deal in the past, with accounts that paid derisory rates of interest and were hedged with restrictions. Things are changing. Banking organisations are becoming aware that the treasurers of small societies need convenient banking just like anyone else, and are badly in need of a decent rate of interest.

Old-fashioned arrangements with few facilities and rates negotiated by special agreement with the branch are giving way to standardised packages with a more up-to-date look. The picture is still complicated. Interest rates vary a lot (see table below) depending on which sort of account you need. It is hard work deciding what is best for your own club.

In general, the more current account facilities you want, the less interest you will get. The Girobank's current account for clubs pays no interest at all, but it makes it easy for you to transfer excess balances to a deposit account - in this case with the Alliance & Leicester - whose instant access account pays a respectable 4.15 per cent. You can switch between the two accounts by phone. The Co-operative Bank also makes a feature of this sort of arrangement.

Where does this leave our struggling treasurer with the bag full of dosh? A problem intrinsic to small clubs, where a lot of coins are collected at fund-raising events, is how to dispose of them. The Abbey National and many building societies impose a limit on cash they will readily deal with on the spot. In Abbey's case it is £15.

They will accept large amounts of cash by special arrangement with the branch - though whether branch staff will readily make you aware of this is another matter. For ease of cash handling, the traditional clearing banks definitely win - though even theymay get ratty if you take in the proceeds of the "guess the number of 1p pieces in the jar" competition on a Friday lunchtime.

A number of the accounts shown in the table will provide a cheque to a third party by post or from the branch. But if you have to make payments to suppliers, even if only rarely, a bank current account with a cheque book helps. You can use the cheque book in the branch to withdraw cash, but in other branches only by special arrangement - unless you have a cash card. The Woolwich, which does not provide a cheque book, does offer a cash card for cash withdrawals, paying in or getting balances. Girobank also gives a cash card.

The pure savings accounts have no charges, but accounts with extra facilities may impose charges, or only permit a certain level of free usage. Girobank and Bank of Scotland give free banking on credit balances. Midland, Lloyds and the Co-op are free within certain limits. The small society that does not have many incomings or outgoings should be able to avoid charges on these accounts.

If you go over the limit, life becomes expensive. Lloyds charges £2 and Midland 60p per debit item over the stated number.

If your club wants maximum income, it will have to accept a degree of restriction. The best rate shown in the table is available from the Charities Aid Foundation, an authorised, non- profit-making bank, which offers high interest rates by pooling small charities' funds.

CAF's Cash Deposit Fund can be operated on its own or in conjunction with a current account. It has a minimum balance of £1,000. Money can be transferred to your current account the same day if necessary (for a fee), or CAF can pay cheques to your suppliers. CAF is considering launching a cheque account in the near future - worth looking out for if you have a high enough balance on deposit.

CAF is more demanding than most organisations in determining an organisation's eligibility. It requires that you should be entitled by Inland Revenue rules to receive gross interest on deposits. The Revenue issues a special number to such organisations.

CAF will accept a registered charity number or the exemption number applying to religious groups as well.

Banks and building societies are not generally as rigorous as this. They will usually want to see the minutes of the meeting at which your society decided to open the account and elected the treasurer and others who will run it. Those people will then have to produce personal identification to open the account. The bank will usually take your word for it that you are entitled to receive gross interest.

Good rates are also available from the Woolwich and the Halifax, though without a cheque book and with limits on cash handling. Sun Banking Corporation, a subsidiary of the Sun Life of Canada insurance company, pays 4.5 per cent, but charges 50p for eachdebit and has a number of other restrictions. At the other end, a brickbat to Abbey National, which provides few facilities and a negligible rate of interest.

A final tip for the beleaguered club treasurer: in these days of corporate involvement in the community, why not invite your local bank manager on to the committee to offer expert help, and make him or her responsible for the post-Christmas fair coin mountain?