Collecting subs without paying fees

Card payment apps are convenient, but every payment carries a fee, and someone – the club or the family – pays it. For most grassroots subs and match fees there's a route that costs nobody anything: a normal UK bank transfer. Here's how to make it work well, and how to keep it safe from scams.

This is general guidance, not legal, tax or financial advice.

Why bank transfer is free

A transfer between UK bank accounts by Faster Payments is free for the person paying at UK banks, and the money goes straight into the club's account. There's no card company in the middle, so there's no processing fee to cover and no payout to wait for.

Get the reference right

The reference is how you know who paid. A few rules make it much easier to match payments on your statement:

• Keep it to 18 characters. That's the most that reliably reaches the person being paid by Faster Payments (Telleroo, Pay.UK).
• Use letters, numbers and hyphens only. Some banking apps reject characters like / @ or +. Upper case avoids confusion.
• Give each family one reference per purpose – for example one for subs and one for match fees – and reuse it all season. Families can save the club as a payee once.
• Ask for the reference exactly as shown, with no extra words.

Use Confirmation of Payee

When a parent adds the club as a new payee, their bank checks the name against the account and tells them whether it's a match, a close match or no match (NatWest). To make this work for you:

• Open the account in the club's name, not a person's.
• Tell families the exact name their banking app should show – copy it from a statement.
• Tell them: if the bank says “no match”, stop and check with the treasurer before paying.

Protect the club from scams

The biggest risk with bank transfers is someone sending families fake bank details – a “the club has a new account” message, or a treasurer's account being taken over. Take Five, the UK Finance campaign, advises always confirming bank details directly, and reminds people that organisations rarely change their bank details. Practical steps for a club:

• Never announce new bank details in a group chat or by email alone.
• Have at least two people who can see the club's account, and consider needing two people to approve payments out.
• If you ever change account, tell families in several ways, and expect questions – that's a good thing.

Since 7 October 2024, people tricked into sending money by Faster Payments have been covered by mandatory reimbursement rules, up to £85,000 per claim (Payment Systems Regulator). That protects the person who paid – it doesn't replace good controls on the club's own account. Fraud can be reported to your bank and to the police (Take Five).

If you do take cards: no surcharges

UK law stops a business charging consumers a fee for paying by card (Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012, regulation 6A). Trading Standards' Business Companion explains that a fee charged regardless of how someone pays isn't a surcharge. The simplest approach is to set a price that covers your costs, and not add a separate card fee.

Be kind about money

• Never share a list of who hasn't paid with other parents.
• Make it easy to ask quietly for help, and let the treasurer waive or split a payment without fuss.
• Remind only the families who still owe something.

How Squono helps

Squono gives each payment request short references built for Faster Payments, shows families the club's bank details and the name their bank should show, and matches payments from a bank statement upload. Changing the club's bank details needs a second treasurer's approval or a 72-hour wait, and everyone is alerted. Bank transfer and cash are free. Instant online payments through the club's own Stripe account are optional and carry a Squono fee of 0.5%, capped at £1 per payment, plus Stripe's own processing fee. See club payments.