Co Op Bank Current Account

2bangor4

I have a current account with the Co Op. I know that my money is covered if bank goes bust but what happens to my salary payments and direct debits in the meantime?

bigadaj

Things may well get frozen for a few days.

Many here would recommend opening an additional current account as there can always be problems with one bank, plenty of attractive switching offers and other incentives.

Reckless_Saving

For your salary you tell your employer to pay into a different account, don't know about direct debits but guess you just contact the requester to get the details changed.

If the worst was to come to the co-op then I reckon that the savings/current account side at least will get bought out by another bank and for account holders things will tick over as normal in the short to medium term. In the long term the purchaser may want to merge IT infrasture with may result in some changes but this should be seemless to yourselve. This has happened to me twice, with Northern Rock now virgin money, and with ING Direct UK now Barclays. Also was with an Iceland bank that went belly up, in this case got my money back under the financial compensation scheme with no effort required on my part - this is the worst case, my feeling is a buyer will be sort out if the coop can't get through it's reported problems this year.

It's good that you're thinking of a back up plan, when I read the Sunday times report yesterday I was thinking the same and prioritising what would be needed to continue as normal.

No_6

If your bank account goes bust then probably more will follow.
Head under pillow and count to ?


Great 1st post @2...4

mt99

Nobody knows for sure what would happen. in the worst case scenario everything gets frozen and 2 months later you get a check from the fscs for the balance. in the best (and in my opinion most likely) scenario your current account will continue unaffected until bought out by another bank

2bangor4

Thank you all for your comments. I'm not keen to change banks as I have a packaged account and use all the perks. Think I'll wait and see.

badger09

2bangor4 wrote: »

Thank you all for your comments. I'm not keen to change banks as I have a packaged account and use all the perks. Think I'll wait and see.

I also have my 'main' account with the Co-op and have for over 45 years. My advice would be to open another current account with a different bank asap - and not just because of Co-op's current issues. Its sensible to have another account you can access in case of system failures;)

System

badger09 wrote: »

I also have my 'main' account with the Co-op and have for over 45 years. My advice would be to open another current account with a different bank asap - and not just because of Co-op's current issues. Its sensible to have another account you can access in case of system failures;)

I recently moved from Halifax due to the drop in the reward plus the switching incentive. Other than the internet banking not being as slick, everything else is fine.

I know that that Coop will almost certainly merge (with someone like TSB or Clydesdale) but as my N&P Gold account is also on the way out, it's making me concerned the smaller players are dying off

Zanderman

Heng_Leng wrote: »

I know that that Coop will almost certainly merge (with someone like TSB or Clydesdale) but as my N&P Gold account is also on the way out, it's making me concerned the smaller players are dying off

The Coop hasn't gone yet - and talk of its demise may (or may not!) be very premature.

I wouldn't dismiss the small players yet either. There are several new small players out there now - the new start-ups basing themselves on smartphone apps. Time will tell if they are viable.

agrinnall

2bangor4 wrote: »

Thank you all for your comments. I'm not keen to change banks as I have a packaged account and use all the perks. Think I'll wait and see.

Nobody has suggested that you change banks, just that you open an account at another bank and keep some money in it so that you have access in the incredibly unlikely event of anything happening to the Co-Op. Tesco might be a good one to keep a few quid in as you get 3% interest with no funding requirements.