Charity Bank has described today's details about the Big Society Bank as a “positive step”.

Charity Bank had called for the Big Society Bank to be a wholesaler providing finance to existing independent intermediates and is pleased that this appears to be the case.

As long as funds are directed towards intermediary organisations such as itself to “help to leverage the impact of the money available”, Charity Bank said, the plans are a “positive step”.

“As a regulated bank, for each pound of additional capital invested in Charity Bank we can make at least seven pounds available to charities and social enterprises,” said Charity Bank chief executive Malcolm Hayday.

“We currently have loan commitments of £61m and, as a result of our loans; our borrowers have been able to raise a further £180m across the sector. With more capital we could multiply this support many times over.”

David Cameron officially launched the coalition's Big Society plans in a speech in Liverpool this morning where he advised that the Big Society Bank would use "every penny" of funds from unused bank accounts to help fund charitable causes.

The British Bankers' Association "guestimates" that the amount of money available from such accounts is £400m to £500m.

A spokesperson for the organisation said: "It's very difficult to come to an accurate figure because every bank deals with dormant accounts slightly differently. Records are not always accurate or complete."