Opinions on The Co-Op?

ruby_eskimo

Hi, I am looking at transferring my account from Natwest to The Co-Op (namely the Privilege Current Account). At £9.50 a month, it's totally worth it for the mobile phone insurance alone. But I just haven't heard a lot about experience of the co-op as a bank on here. Has anyone had any problems? I would primarily be banking online as the local branch is a few miles away. Any good or bad stories would be much appreciated!

MegaMiniMouse

Does mobile phone insurance really cost more than £9.50 a month (£114 a year)?

I have a fee-free Co-op bank account which is fine. They are still a bit confused about Faster Payments, but usually it's ok. The call centre is on the better side of average, I would say, and online it is just fine.

Not much else to say really!

MMM

Jojo1daffy

I've been with them for 7 years now and never had any issues until this year, but that's sorted out now anyway. Call Centre's are in Manchester and Stockport, and are mostly helpful and pleasant. I think my Mum has that privilege account and she gets to go in the first class lounge at airports for some reason! No idea why!

ruby_eskimo

MegaMiniMouse wrote: »

Does mobile phone insurance really cost more than £9.50 a month (£114 a year)?

Well I have a blackberry and the cheapest I have been quoted is £12.50 a month.

Glad to hear that you haven't had problems with them, as soon as I get my Natwest account sorted I think I might be swapping.

thorsoak

I've banked with the Co-op for over 30 years - their internet banking system is excellent, although debits can take some time to show through - altough deposits show straight away. You'll also be offered a Privilege Savings Account which operates exactly the same way as the Privilege Account. Their call centres are completely UK based and their branches are excellent too.

You also get a "benefits package" which also includes travel insurance which covers current a/c holders up to the age of 75 - for world wide travel! For the last 2 years I've also used Co-operative Insurance for my car and building & home contents insurance - looked via compare websites, found them to be cheaper and then got the cover cheaper still because I have a Co-op bank a/c.

One word of advice though - I've only just found out after all this time, that if you join the Co-operative Society you will also get a dividend on using your bank account - and the dividend can be paid direct to your account (think its twice yearly) - so its worth clicking at the bottom of the first page on their website & getting details.

ruby_eskimo

thorsoak wrote: »

I've banked with the Co-op for over 30 years - their internet banking system is excellent, although debits can take some time to show through - altough deposits show straight away. You'll also be offered a Privilege Savings Account which operates exactly the same way as the Privilege Account. Their call centres are completely UK based and their branches are excellent too.

You also get a "benefits package" which also includes travel insurance which covers current a/c holders up to the age of 75 - for world wide travel! For the last 2 years I've also used Co-operative Insurance for my car and building & home contents insurance - looked via compare websites, found them to be cheaper and then got the cover cheaper still because I have a Co-op bank a/c.

One word of advice though - I've only just found out after all this time, that if you join the Co-operative Society you will also get a dividend on using your bank account - and the dividend can be paid direct to your account (think its twice yearly) - so its worth clicking at the bottom of the first page on their website & getting details.

Thanks so much, this has really helped swing it for me now I think :money:

jambosans

Is moving to the Co-Op for the packaged account your only reason?

If so, you may want to consider the NatWest Advantage Blue Current Account - £6.95 with mobile phone insurance (amongst other benefits) which covers a phone up to £750.

A couple of other packaged accounts with mobile phone insurance to look at:-
Barclays Current Account Plus - £5 per month.
Lloyds TSB Silver Silver Account - £7.95 per month (£3 per month for the first two months).

ruby_eskimo

jambosans wrote: »

Is moving to the Co-Op for the packaged account your only reason?

No it isn't. I've had really bad service from Natwest recently which has prompted me to look at alternative banking options. I had heard good things about the co-op i.e. how ethical their banking practices are etc. I have banked with Barclays before and had problems (they took over my Woolwich account and messed up royally IMO) and my parents have been with Lloyds/Nationwide/Santander and had problems too. The sound of the mobile insurance appealed to me because I have a quite expensive phone and therefore don't want anything to happen to it. But thanks for the alternative suggestions!

pmduk

You can use the post office for many transactions which may overcome the lack of branches. I've had an account for 8 years with only 1 problem which was sorted pretty efficiently.

glenn_m

Switched my current account to the Co-op just over a year ago and it's been fantastic.

I don't know what kind of happy gas they spike their call centre's air conditioners with, but whenever I call them up they are extremely polite and helpful.

On first impressions, their online banking does appear to be a bit behind the times, especially compared to NatWest. But I've grown to appreciate how, unlike other online banking websites, you don't have to drill through several different layers of menus just to get to what you want; It's all laid out right infront of you.

I accidentally went overdrawn past my overdraft limit once, and they sent me a letter asking if I repay the amount I've gone over by within x amount of days I won't be charged anything! :T
A stark contrast to most banks who just automatically whack on £20+ unauthorized overdraft fees.

I recently upgraded to the Privilege account and insured both my Google Nexus One phone and partner's iPhone 3Gs. Chose the Safeguard bundle so I have access to my credit file, and was sent a key fob which I can attach to my keys so if I lose them and someone finds them and hands them in, the finder will receive £10 and I get my keys back, plus a service whereby I'll be delivered a spare set of keys to my house within two hours if I get locked out. (Though I'm a bit reluctant to opt in for that one because I'm not completely comfortable with the idea of any company having a set of keys to my house.)

Overall big thumbs up.

LetsAllDoTheCongo

glenn_m wrote: »

plus a service whereby I'll be delivered a spare set of keys to my house within two hours if I get locked out. (Though I'm a bit reluctant to opt in for that one because I'm not completely comfortable with the idea of any company having a set of keys to my house.)

Overall big thumbs up.

Hi Glenn

The service you mention here is called SpareKeys.com

I know the company and you have nothing to worry about. Their service uses lots of different security measures to protect you and your home, car, etc - the most important of which, is that they don't ever know your home address. Without this vital bit of info the keys can never be used without your personal authorisation.

I dont want to turn this (hopefuilly) bit of helpful information into any kind of sales pitch but if you want to anything else about the service, let me know

Cheers