The Lloyds sub-accounts are supporting you to volunteer for Sands

Many of you feel that the sub-account was useful in continuing to volunteer for Sands:

Advantages of the Lloyds sub-account

We asked you about the advantages of having a Lloyds sub-account. This is what you said:

• Credit card - payments can be made direct without having to use personal cards and claim back.
• Easier to make a straight forward payment
• Easier to manage
• Easily able to pay for small items for the group
• Having an account we can access and pay into.....previously had to hold money or send on to finance dept which didn't feel very secure
• I could buy item's directly using the card not my own money
• Being able to buy small items like tea and coffee. Not having to worry about paying the library for support meetings.
• Being able to pay for things with the Lloyds card instead of our personal bank accounts
• None yet as still in transition and not experienced all aspects yet
• Can go to the bank to pay in more handy than other bank
• Ability to pay for items ourselves
• Having just established this account we are pleased the way it has gone so far

And quite a few of you couldn’t highlight specific disadvantages about the Lloyds subaccount:

• Not found one as of yet
• None so far
• Not having a cheque book, but sure I'll get used to it!
• Having just established this account we are pleased the way it has gone so far

Overall, we are really pleased that you would recommend other Groups to sign up for a Lloyds sub-account:

We listened to you

We also asked you about what we could improve on our communications and processes regarding the transition. We had some fantastic feedback about this that will help us to shape how we support those Groups transitioning across to the Lloyds sub-accounts during 2018.
 

Internet access to view sub-account activity

It was clear from the survey that many of you would have appreciated access to view your accounts online:

• Lost online banking to see funds in account
• Unable to view overall account

We agree.

Before the survey was launched, we supported one Group to trial the access offered through Lloyds. We have since heard back from this ‘tester’ Group including how online viewing of their sub-account has helped the Treasurer maintain a clear understanding of the Group’s finances. We are now in the process of offering this access to all current Lloyds sub-account holders and those Groups moving across in April 2018.

Please note: setting up access to view your sub-account online is a much longer process than activating an ePCS card. We are sending out detailed instructions about how to gain access to Treasurers. If you receive these instructions and want to set up online viewing access to your sub-account, please read these carefully. Don’t hesitate to contact Fiona McLeod if you have any questions.
 

Clearer information for you - cardholders and Treasurers

We received clear feedback that the information required by a cardholder and a Treasurer is different.

• The treasurer needs the most complex information but perhaps simplified packs for committee members with basic info about how to claim funds etc, might assist the treasurer at what is quite a difficult time?
• Bullet point important notes
• If your referring to the Bank welcome pack it was very basic and did not contain a lot of information. The information we got from our Network Leader was more helpful

We are taking this feedback into account and creating separate information sheets for cardholders and Treasurers. These information sheets should make it easier for cardholders to be able to continue their work as volunteers for Sands, and allow Treasurers more in-depth information as needed for their specific volunteering role.
 

Payments of invoices and volunteer expenses

Some of you felt you had to chase invoices and volunteer expenses, although these incidents were few and far between:

• Process seems long and not too efficient. We want to be able to pay invoices ideally within 5 working days, we’ve had one that took much longer.
• From the feedback I’ve had from our treasurer, something that would previously taken a couple of days to pay has taken a couple of weeks. We have had suppliers chase us twice for one payment.

We respect that your relationships with local suppliers (including venue hire) are key. Therefore, we are highlighting the payment cycle for submitting invoices and expenses in the new cardholder and Treasurer information sheets. This will help to clarify how quickly we can process requests and how to follow up an unpaid invoice or resolve a payment issue.

We want to thank all those volunteers who participated in the recent survey and offered feedback – we hope this information reassures you that we are taking the transition to the Lloyds sub-accounts seriously and want to ensure that the process is as smooth and stress-free as possible for you.