Legacy WM signs up for Al Rayan Bank's Charities' Notice Savings Account

Al Rayan Bank, one of the fastest growing banks in the country*, has announced that Legacy WM, a charity that celebrates the heritage of post-war migrant communities in Birmingham, has become the latest not-for-profit organisation to take its Charities’ Notice Savings Account. The account enables Legacy WM to receive a 1.40% expected return on its savings, to have an online banking facility and to maintain a Euro account for its European funding, as well as providing instant access up to 20% of its funds if needed – all without incurring any bank charges.

Many conventional banks class charities as small businesses once their turnover has passed a certain threshold and may then begin to charge banking fees associated with small business accounts. In contrast, Al Rayan Bank offers ‘fee free’ banking to not-for-profit organisations, enabling charities to invest between £50,000 and £20m without incurring costs.

Legacy WM was founded in 2010 to capture the histories of migrants whose lives are less well documented. After successfully securing funding from a multitude of sources in the UK and Europe, the charity expanded its remit to include family health and wellbeing, young people and the arts. A corresponding expansion of the charity’s Board of Trustees and a subsequent new business plan identified that the charity required a new bank which could facilitate its requirements and its growth.

Aftab Rahman, Director, Legacy WM explains: “Our existing bank only offered free banking up to £100,000, in addition it could not provide us with the Euro account that we needed for our European funding. We approached many conventional High Street Banks with our special set of circumstances and received an underwhelming response. Some banks didn’t get back to us, some did, but either didn’t seem to fully understand the charity sector or couldn’t provide exactly what we needed. Importantly, they also couldn’t offer free banking.

“One of our Trustees recommended Al Rayan Bank and from the outset, our experience could not have been more different. They came back quickly and a representative of the Bank came and spoke to our trustees to explain more about Sharia compliant finance; while ethical credentials weren’t originally part of our criteria, we’re thrilled to be working with a Bank which takes such a transparent, ethical and prudent approach. In our initial meeting we were taken through the process of opening up the account and told everything that we needed to provide. Consequently, just two weeks later, our account was open.

“I would recommend Al Rayan Bank to any charity in the UK that is looking for a banking partner to grow with them, and don’t want to be financially penalised for being successful. In my experience, Al Rayan Bank represents a return to relationship based banking, where you have a named banker that you can build a relationship with, and a physical presence in the local community.”

An ethical bank which welcomes customers of any faith and none, Al Rayan Bank continues to build a presence in communities that it serves; opening new offices in Bradford and Glasgow last year. In addition, Al Rayan Bank’s customers can manage their accounts through a range of convenience channels, online, by phone, by post or in branch.

Al Rayan Bank is founded on Islamic principles that are derived from trade, entrepreneurship and risk-sharing in which the customer and Bank work together as partners towards a mutually profitable end. These principles prohibit the Bank from investing savers’ deposits in unethical activities such as gambling, pornography, speculation, tobacco, arms and other commodities prohibited in Islam.

Al Rayan Bank has been a pioneer of British retail Islamic banking for 13 years. The first wholly Sharia compliant retail bank in the UK, it has earned a reputation for providing innovative products which appeal to people of any faith. Al Rayan Bank has been named by Global Finance magazine as one of the best Islamic banks in the world, in its annual list of the World’s Best Islamic Financial Institutions, and by Trade Finance Global as the Best Islamic Finance Services in Western Europe.

As an independent UK bank, Al Rayan Bank is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority and is a member of Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

* In 2016, the Bank was named as the third fastest growing bank in the UK by pre-tax by profits, in a complete financial analysis of all 155 UK incorporated banks. Source: Bank League Tables 2017, a complete financial analysis of all 155 UK incorporated banks, Searchline Publishing 2017