What's in a label?
We carry a number of badges. Here is what each of them is, who awards it, and what it does not mean.
A badge is only worth its definition
Banks collect certifications, and most of them are explained nowhere. Some are regulatory obligations we could not trade without; some are independent assessments we chose to submit to; one or two are commitments about how we treat our own staff.
They are set out below, sorted by who issues them. Where a label has limits — and the deposit guarantee has important ones — those limits are stated rather than buried.
Registrations and regulatory status
APRA-regulated ADI
Charity Bank Australia is an authorised deposit-taking institution, prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority against the capital and liquidity standards that apply to every Australian bank.
Financial Claims Scheme
Eligible deposits are protected up to A$250,000 per account holder by the Australian Government's Financial Claims Scheme. It covers deposits. It does not cover crypto assets, which are not deposits.
ASIC-licensed
We hold an Australian financial services licence and an Australian credit licence, and we are bound by the conduct obligations that come with them.
AUSTRAC-registered
Our digital currency exchange service is registered with AUSTRAC, which is what allows us to offer a crypto wallet alongside everyday accounts.
AFCA member
If we cannot resolve a complaint to your satisfaction, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority will consider it independently and free of charge to you.
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
We handle personal information under the Australian Privacy Principles and are answerable to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Your deposits are protected up to A$250,000
Eligible deposits with Charity Bank Australia are covered by the Australian Government’s Financial Claims Scheme, administered by APRA, up to A$250,000 per account holder. Crypto assets are not deposits and are not covered by the scheme.
What the Financial Claims Scheme means for youIndependent certifications
Certified B Corporation
An independent assessment of how a company treats its workers, customers, community and environment, re-certified every three years against a published standard.
Global Alliance for Banking on Values
An international network of banks that lend into the real economy with a social or environmental purpose. Membership requires meeting the alliance's principles, not just agreeing with them.
Certified social enterprise
Social Traders certifies organisations with a defined social mission that trade for that mission and reinvest their surplus in it. We are certified on the same terms as the enterprises we lend to.
Responsible investment certification
Certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia, which checks that what a product screens out matches what it says it screens out.
Climate Active carbon neutral
Certified carbon neutral for our own operations under the Australian Government's Climate Active programme, with the inventory and offsets published each year.
Fossil Free Alliance
A pledge that we neither lend to nor invest in fossil fuel extraction. It is a constitutional limit on our lending rather than an aspiration.
Commitments to our own people
Diversity Council Australia
Membership of the national body for workplace diversity and inclusion, whose research and practice standards we report against internally.
Accessible by design
We build to WCAG 2.2 AA and publish where we fall short of it, rather than claiming a level we have not reached.
Essential Eight
We are assessed against the Australian Cyber Security Centre's Essential Eight mitigation strategies, with an independent technical audit of the controls behind them.
If a label here is unclear, or you want the evidence behind one of them, ask us. We would rather explain a certification than have it read as decoration.