Getting a Debit Card for Your Charity or Non-Profit

Paying for things online has become part of running almost any charity, club or community organisation.

Your group might need a debit card to pay for Xero, Squarespace, Canva, AI tools, online advertising, a domain name or any number of other subscriptions. Even when an invoice or bank transfer is technically possible, paying by card is often much easier.

Without an organisation debit card, a volunteer or staff member may end up using their personal card and asking to be reimbursed. That is inconvenient for a one-off purchase. For a subscription charged every month, it becomes an ongoing administrative headache - and leaves one person personally responsible for keeping the service running.

It seems obvious that the organisation should simply get its own Visa or Mastercard debit card. Unfortunately, for many small non-profits, it is not quite that simple.

In this guide:

Problem one: a debit card can bypass your two-to-sign control

Many charities and non-profits require two authorised people to approve payments from their bank account. This is an important safeguard: no single person can move the organisation’s money without someone else seeing and approving the payment.

A debit card works differently. Once the card has been issued, its cardholder can generally make purchases by themselves. The transaction is taken directly from the organisation’s account without a second person approving it through online banking.

That may be permitted under the arrangement you make with your bank, but it still bypasses the practical protection your two-to-sign rule was intended to provide.

This does not necessarily mean your organisation should never use a card. It means the board or committee should make a deliberate decision about the risk, set an appropriate spending limit and put other controls in place.

Problem two: sharing one card is usually not the answer

A debit card is generally issued to a named cardholder, even when the organisation’s name also appears on it. The cardholder is expected to keep the card, PIN and security details safe.

Passing the card around between staff, committee members and volunteers - or sharing its PIN or card number and CCV details - may breach the card’s conditions of use. It also creates a basic accountability problem: when several people use the same card, it can be difficult to establish who made a purchase or who should have the receipt.

For example, ANZ defines a card as one it has issued to the account owner or an authorised signatory, and its current conditions require the cardholder to protect the card and PIN. Your bank’s exact rules may differ, so check directly rather than assuming that a shared “organisation card” can be used by anyone.

Option 2: use a separate, low-balance account for card spending

If you decide to get a debit card from your bank, consider linking it to a separate bank account rather than your organisation’s main bank account.

Your main account can retain its two-to-sign approval process. A set amount is then transferred into the card account - either regularly or when an approved purchase needs to be made. Keeping only a modest balance in that account limits how much money is exposed if the card details are compromised or the card is misused.

For example, an organisation might transfer $300 into its card account each month to cover its regular software subscriptions, with any larger purchase approved and funded separately.

This is a useful risk control, but it does not solve the card-sharing problem. The card should still be held and used only by its named cardholder.

Whichever option you choose, set some simple card rules

A debit card makes spending easier. That is its benefit - and also its risk.

Your board or committee should approve a short card policy or resolution covering:

• who may hold or be issued a card;
• what each person is allowed to buy;
• the maximum amount they can spend;
• when advance approval is required;
• how quickly receipts must be provided;
• who reviews card transactions each month;
• how recurring subscriptions are recorded and reviewed; and
• when a card must be frozen or cancelled, including when someone leaves the organisation.

No one should approve their own spending without someone else reviewing it. Even if a second person does not authorise every small card transaction in advance, regular independent review helps preserve the intent of having good financial controls.

Keep a simple register of recurring subscriptions too. Record the service, its purpose, expected amount, renewal date, card used and the person responsible for it. This makes it much easier to cancel services you no longer need and prevents subscriptions disappearing into the background for years.