by Fred Byrne and Reilly Norgren
A new banking system for societies and clubs will see individual bank accounts scrapped in favour of one account handled by the Students’ Union.
Explaining at October’s Student Council, VP Activities Tõnis Tilk says the changes will require SU staff to approve each transaction from one central account, promising that payment requests will be checked 3 times per day.
Fourteen activities will trial the new system, before all societies make the transition.
Committee members of student activities have reported difficulties running their activities while they wait for the new system to be launched.
Speaking at Council, Tõnis shared that it can take ‘3-6 months’ for the Bank of Scotland to approve new committee members to control activity bank accounts.
In anticipation, societies and clubs have been encouraged to hold off on submitting paperwork to the bank in order to access accounts.
According the the SU, in previous years, some societies have been left without access to their accounts for entire academic years. It is thought that applying for bank account access now will take longer than it will take to switch over to a new system.
Some newly-elected Treasurers and Presidents have told The Gaudie that they have been left with no way of retrieving their funds.
One treasurer told us their sports club “have no access at all to [their] account,” adding that “it is making it very difficult to function.”
Freddie Rhodes, Philosophy Society Treasurer reported similar difficulties sharing, “we haven’t been able to access our account for payment or checking for months now.”
AUSA say the hope is that a new banking system will be faster and will remove the need for a lengthy approval process with the Bank of Scotland, giving the SU more control over who can access funds.
There is confusion about the timing and reasoning for planned changes, with one student saying:
“I fail to see how the new banking system [will benefit] the societies or AUSA. It appears to be a large amount of unnecessary complication for relatively little gain.”
A committee member of the Celtic Society, however, expressed optimism about the new banking system, sharing:
“It should make things far easier to manage our own money. We will be able to see our money, and bank without relying on anybody else. It should minimise errors and issues, so we are looking forward to it.”
Societies may wish to consult the societies Newsletter for regular updates. Groups experiencing issues with accessing funds are encouraged to contact the SU for support.