Bank Feed - Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)
For Xero to expand their bank feed connections to develop a feed that supports Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)
Hi team, we appreciate the growing interest this idea's gaining and want you to know our product teams are very attuned to our customers desire for a bank feed for CAF bank.
We're continuing to work closely with our third party integrators to make more bank feeds available via open banking. A feed for CAF is high on our agenda, however we're reliant on third party integrators to support this integration in order for us to deliver this for you all.
I want to assure you we're pushing for it's integration, but we cannot commit or confirm a timeline for this work to be undertaken.
As soon as there's progress to share we'll happily provide further updates for you all.
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Julia Williams
commented
With my client having 4 CAF bank accounts it would save me so much time if there was a bank feed.
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Elizabeth White
commented
We have a number of charity clients who would like to move to Xero but are reluctant to until the CAF bank feed is in place.
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Paul Ingram
commented
This has been going on for quite a few years now! CAF has chamged there processess so accounting softwares can link to get bank feeds. I think it is now Xero's turn to link! Please implement ASAP urgently....
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Tracy Taylor
commented
We are a very small charity & desperately need to streamline the process of bank reconciliation so our already stretched time in the face of funding uncertainty can be used more effectively, working with our families instead. This has been an issue for over a year now .. can you please make this happen?
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Gavin Muir
commented
Have automated bank feeds between CAF and Xero would simplify so many things for us and save time allowing us to focus on other things to help all the people and organisations we support. This has been talked about for so long it would be great to actually see some progress with this.
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Alison Carey
commented
Lisa Keenan on 9 June said Xero is blaming CAF for the wrong type of feed (MCi not API).
I queried with CAF who said it is using API.
See response below.
So Xero Please just get on with it.
"Thank you so much for your email and for taking the time to get in touch. I’d like to confirm that we are indeed using the correct API for this process. We’ve previously been in contact with Xero, and, following their guidance, we’re currently sharing the link below with customers who use Xero and are interested in connecting to CAF:
By sharing this link, we’re encouraging customers to register their interest in establishing a connection between Xero and CAF. The more customers who express their interest, the more likely it is that this integration will move up Xero’s priority list."
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Christine Knight
commented
Please implement
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Lisa Keenan
commented
i am also very keen for this integration to take place.
I am getting mixed messages from CAF Bank and Xero,
CAF Bank says, 'At this point, QuickBooks is the only accounting software we are connected to.The online banking platform has the capability to connect to Xero, but we are waiting on them, to enable are customers to make this link.'
Xero says
'In the UK, Xero supports direct API connections provided via Open Banking. The type of connection CAF Bank offers is through Modified Customer Interface (MCI), which is less secure and convenient than a direct API connection. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed the mandatory use of API connection for banks and is planning to phase out MCI in the future.Xero doesn’t have any plans to connect to banks that use MCI. Our preference is to use a direct API connection as it provides additional security.'
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Robin McDonald
commented
Steve Overton’s comment on behalf of CAF Bank is technically correct from a regulatory standpoint, but it feels somewhat incomplete in practical and commercial terms. The key issue is not simply whether a Third-Party Provider (TPP) can integrate with a bank, but whether there is sufficient commercial incentive for them to do so.
Developing and maintaining a reliable banking feed into platforms such as Xero, QuickBooks, or Sage involves ongoing engineering, compliance, support, and maintenance costs. A TPP or accounting software provider will naturally assess whether the expected user adoption justifies that investment.
In that context, size clearly matters. Large high-street banks such as Barclays or Lloyds Bank have millions of business customers, creating a strong commercial case for accounting software firms to build and maintain robust integrations. The return on investment is obvious because a large number of users are likely to connect their accounts.
By contrast, a smaller or specialist institution such as CAF Bank may not have a sufficiently large customer base to make the integration commercially attractive on its own. From the outside, it would be reasonable to conclude that Xero may simply not see enough demand from CAF customers to prioritise the work despite whatever Xero may say about this issue being a priority.
That raises a broader commercial question. If customer demand exists, has CAF Bank explored contributing toward the development or ongoing support costs of a direct feed? From my research In practice, many smaller banks achieve integrations by co-funding development, partnering closely with aggregators, or otherwise helping reduce the commercial risk for the accounting software provider.
From a customer perspective, the issue is therefore less about regulatory entitlement and more about commercial willingness and strategic priority. If CAF wishes to position itself as a modern banking provider for charities and not-for-profits, seamless integration with major accounting platforms is increasingly viewed as a core expectation rather than a premium feature.
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Steve Overton
commented
To answer Tom Mitchell's post below, the banks have an obligation to provide an interface for Third Party Providers to connect to, which we have done, but they in turn do not have an obligation to create an integration to those banks. However, should the TPP want to connect to a bank it is the responsibility of the TPP to fund that, not the bank . Please scroll down to my comment 23 May for more info.
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Tom Mitchell
commented
I think what Xero are saying is that they will not do the integration and from separate sources, the bank are not prepared to pay for an integrator to create the integration. A genuine question is where does the responsibility lie - bank or Xero; who created all the existing integrations - banks or Xero.
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Friederike Schmidt
commented
Yes, please, I am also waiting for an update.
Clearly hundreds of organisations are waiting for this, Xero? -
Christopher Graves
commented
Any progress with this?
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Alex Peace-Gadsby
commented
If we can help by petitioning third party integrators, please let us all know as I'm sure many would
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Sue Campagna
commented
This is the first time since I have been working with Xero that a bank feed hasn't been available. It would save time and be more up to date if there was a CAF feed
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Caroline Sinclair
commented
We are a small food charity in Coventry and have used Xero for 6 years. It's such a nightmare to have to do everything manually from CAF, when the whole USP of Xero is supposed to be everything is simple and integrated.
Please help save our time as volunteers running tiny charities! -
DCBS Admin
commented
I work for the Devon Cattle Breeders Society, a charity. A feed from Xero into CAF Bank would save time. I feel this should be a normal feature for all banks as we pay monthly subscription to Xero for a service that is not equal to all customers,
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Alan Chandler
commented
I'm the Treasurer of North London Chorus so we have peaks in our banking activity such as when members pay their subs or when we're making a lot of payments after a concert. Our day to day number of transactions is relatively low. It would be handy to have a feed but I'm so used to importing a bank statement into Xero on a daily basis I could do it in my sleep and it's not a major deal. Of course that's not going to be the view of everyone but just to give a spectrum of opinion.
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Bruce Elkington
commented
I attend a church which uses CAF Bank and I know they get a multitude of donations which have to be manually entered into their accounting system. Xero would save them so much time.
Please help.
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Colin Cross
commented
We have been waiting far too long for this bank feed from CAF Bank into Xero. Can you please urgently expedite this integration. Our charity year end is approaching at the end of March, and it looks as though I will have include a statement in our Annual Report to The Charity Commission that we are STILL unable to automate this activity!