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I recently decided I'd like to siphon off a percentage of my income for charitable purposes. In order to do this I could open another bank account and transfer a fixed sum monthly to that account. However, this seems like unnecessary hassle; it would involve having another debit card, extra statements posted to me each month and so on. Ideally, I would like to be able to split my existing current account into two 'pots', with the function of transferring from one to the other.

Does anybody know of any simple way of doing this, or any (UK) bank accounts that offer such a service? I already fired this question at my current bank (HSBC) who responded that it's not possible without opening another account. Keeping track of it on paper could lead to confusion; I'd like to know how much exists in either 'pot' at any time without needing to refer to my notes.

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    I'm amazed that the majority of banks that offer online banking don't offer this kind of service already. It would be great for budgeting.
    – Anonymous
    Jan 18, 2013 at 13:46
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    It sounds like you are looking for what I've heard referred to as "envelop budgeting tools." I've not heard of it being offered directly by the bank. It would seem if the bank would offer the second accounting envelope/jar/etc, then multiple ones would be available for full budgeting. Jan 18, 2013 at 15:27
  • Since in the UK bank accounts are typically free, why is opening another account a problem? Jan 18, 2013 at 19:10
  • @DJClayworth, another account is another debit card, unnecessary extra statements, and generally a very clunky way of doing this. In my post I only ask to split my account into two 'pots', but the ideal solution would have an infinite number of pots. Jan 19, 2013 at 3:58
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    Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but why would you need a separate debit card just because you open a second account?
    – user
    Jan 22, 2013 at 10:42

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There are some banks that offer "pot" accounts like this (off the top of my head I think Intelligent Finance does, although they call them "jars").

The other option for charity specifically would be a CAF account: https://www.cafonline.org/my-personal-giving/plan-your-giving/individual-charity-account.aspx

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    +1 for CAF account. Works well for exactly the situation you are describing. Jan 18, 2013 at 19:09

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