Our Heritage

A former Methodist Reform Church minister named William Booth founds the East London Christian Mission, later renamed The Salvation Army. At a time of immense hardship, its mission is to help London’s poor, destitute and hungry, by providing “first, soup; second, soap; and finally, salvation.”

Booth writes a book entitled ‘In Darkest England and the Way Out’. Describing the social crisis of the time and his vision for change, it lays out his early philosophy for The Salvation Army – a philosophy that has underpinned Reliance Bank ever since.

Instructed by General Bramwell Booth (William’s son) the bank makes a deposit of £682 to The Salvation Army. Worth almost £87,000 in today’s money, it is the first recorded example of a gift from the bank to support the work of The Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army Bank becomes Reliance Bank Ltd. The bank moves to 103 Queen Victoria Street, next door to the Salvation Army International HQ. It is said that William Booth, waiting for a cab, looks through the window to approve how earnestly the bank staff are working!

The bank is destroyed by fire after an air raid. The next morning, emergency business is transacted from a temporary office. The day after that, trestle tables are set up in vacant classrooms at The International (William Booth Memorial) Training College in south London. This remains the bank’s home for the next 6 years.

Reliance Bank receives a positive write-up in The Banker magazine.

The bank launches its new branding, updated to reflect the bank’s renewed commitment to socially responsible banking.

In the 2021 Charity Finance Banking Survey, Reliance Bank achieved first place overall for customer satisfaction, outperforming high street banks. We were rated in first place for: Relationship Manager, Telephone Services, Fees/charges and Interest Rates.

In 2018 we set-out a mission to achieve a loan book of £100million by 2022. Paul Croucher – CEO for Reliance Bank is proud to announce that the Reliance Bank team has achieved this very important milestone. Both our key commercial and mortgage lending areas surpassed the £50m point as we met a significant landmark in our 5 – year strategic plan.

In the 2024 Charity Finance Banking Survey, Reliance Bank achieved first place for Relationship Management.

Reliance Bank have been awarded “Community Lender of the Year” by NACFB. Congratulations to the Reliance Bank Commercial Finance team for their achievement at the NACFB Commercial Lending Awards. We’ve supported Charities and Businesses for 134 years and we empower them to grow. This award demonstrates our commitment to the community.