Closing the charity sector’s £82m Pay by Bank gap

Cards remain the most prevalent payment option on charities’ websites — but high processing fees eat into every donation, forcing NGOs to either absorb the cost or pass it on, adding friction that can cause drop-off right when someone is ready to give. Direct Debit, the backbone of recurring giving, carries its own hidden operational burden that quietly reduces how much of every pound reaches its intended cause.

Pay by Bank offers a faster, cheaper, more reliable alternative for one-off and recurring donations alike, yet to date, sector adoption remains minimal.
Attend this industry panel to hear new research on what payment options UK non-profits accept in 2026, alongside fresh survey data on UK consumers’ awareness of the high costs nonprofits absorb to process donations, and whether willingness to Pay by Bank. Panelists will also unpack whether cVRP/Recurring Pay by Bank could become a genuine alternative to Direct Debit.

This panel brings together payments industry leaders helping NGOs unlock open banking and Pay by Bank, to explore why adoption in this sector lags — cost, awareness, technical barriers, or something else?

Key discussion points:

New research reveal
What payment options 100 major non-profits/charities currently offer donors, and what it tells us about sector-wide reliance on cards.
The true cost of cards for charities — and the difficult trade-off between absorbing costs and asking donors to cover them.
Why recurring donations are the lifeblood of the sector and where Direct Debit falls short.
The hidden operational burden that quietly reduces how much of every pound reaches the cause

Charities and CVRP
Charities are already in scope for commercial variable recurring payments; what would it take for CVRP to become a genuine alternative to Direct Debit for recurring giving?

Why adoption has lagged.
What’s holding the charity sector back from Pay by Bank today: cost, awareness, technical barriers, or something else?

A practical roadmap.
Reveal of new UK consumer survey data on consumers’ awareness of the scale of the problem, and their willingness to Pay by Bank for one-off and recurring donations.