Co-operative Bank - dreadful!

ZeroSum

I opened one a few years back as it had a decent rewards scheme. That's now nowhere near as attractive as it was. 

I don't think they're that bad, the rewards account is still a decentish debit card spending account for small amounts, with the flat rate 2p per transaction. And my local branch never has queues, so is handy if I ever need to deposit cash. Minor annoyance that their faster payments takes ages when receiving money

I've just referred my OH, so hopefully we'll get £250 between us, then she's planning on switching hers out again (I'm getting her trained in this mse lark)

adamp87

My experience onboarding at the Co-Op has been dreadful. The app seems a bit archaic, you are unable to send a message via the app to support instead you have to login into web banking.

The stated reply went from 24 hours to 5 days and still no response to a query chasing up my switch. 

3 calls lasting 30 mins each (before twice being dropped from the line), and a further hour and 20 minutes call in the end (including 40 mins wait) to get sorted was just ridiculous.

Would never use them for a main account based on the past 2 weeks. 

Band7

gsmh said:

  It's probably worth trawling through your credit references to find the information and noting it somewhere. 

They can only ask you questions about accounts they can see on your CRA files. So no need to keep extra records - just log into your CRA files as the data is all noted in there.

gsmh

Band7 said:

They can only ask you questions about accounts they can see on your CRA files. So no need to keep extra records - just log into your CRA files as the data is all noted in there.

Pedantic. I like to keep those sort of records myself rather than having to log on to up to three external sites every time the information is needed. Financial organisations sometimes report to just one CRA so three logins may be required to cover all bases. Whenever I open an account I log all the account details and add a field for 'date opened'. Otherwise just log on to your CRA files once, if you don't have access to the information already, record it and you will never have to repeat the process. Good to be proactive.

Yorkshire_Pud

Co op bank was 100% owned by the Co operative wholesale society until 2013.
Now owned 100% by a group of US hedge funds.
So from a genuinely ethical bank to a sales pitch of being ethical as a brand. May still do some good but the core of the bank no longer exists.
They are a uniquely weird mainstream bank as they seem to spend more of their time putting obstacles in their customers way than making their banking easier.

Ive got a complaint going, after initial acknowledgement about five weeks ago I’ve heard nothing since. Their refusal to let me open a current account was that there was information on my credit file from Equifax that meant they couldn’t offer me an account. Strange then that my Clear score /Equifax report states no hard searches for more than six months from any organisation?!

AmityNeon

gsmh said:

Band7 said:

They can only ask you questions about accounts they can see on your CRA files. So no need to keep extra records - just log into your CRA files as the data is all noted in there.

Pedantic. I like to keep those sort of records myself rather than having to log on to up to three external sites every time the information is needed. Financial organisations sometimes report to just one CRA so three logins may be required to cover all bases. Whenever I open an account I log all the account details and add a field for 'date opened'. Otherwise just log on to your CRA files once, if you don't have access to the information already, record it and you will never have to repeat the process. Good to be proactive.

There are up to three dates depending on when an account is actually opened. There’s the application date, which can differ from an account’s opening date, which can differ from the reported opening date on your credit file.

I opened a Halifax account online on a Saturday, and it was opened instantly (it appeared in online banking and was useable), but the reported opening date is the following Monday. The discrepancy only matters if the months are different, in which case I obviously defer to my credit file when questioned about opening dates.

ForumUser7

ZeroSum said:

I opened one a few years back as it had a decent rewards scheme. That's now nowhere near as attractive as it was. 

I don't think they're that bad, the rewards account is still a decentish debit card spending account for small amounts, with the flat rate 2p per transaction. And my local branch never has queues, so is handy if I ever need to deposit cash. Minor annoyance that their faster payments takes ages when receiving money

I've just referred my OH, so hopefully we'll get £250 between us, then she's planning on switching hers out again (I'm getting her trained in this mse lark)

@zerosum 'flat rate 2p per transaction' - does CO-OP charge you to make payments on your debit card?!

gsmh

No. That’s what they pay you!

WillPS

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Co op bank was 100% owned by the Co operative wholesale society until 2013.
Now owned 100% by a group of US hedge funds.
So from a genuinely ethical bank to a sales pitch of being ethical as a brand. May still do some good but the core of the bank no longer exists.
They are a uniquely weird mainstream bank as they seem to spend more of their time putting obstacles in their customers way than making their banking easier.

Ive got a complaint going, after initial acknowledgement about five weeks ago I’ve heard nothing since. Their refusal to let me open a current account was that there was information on my credit file from Equifax that meant they couldn’t offer me an account. Strange then that my Clear score /Equifax report states no hard searches for more than six months from any organisation?!

CWS ceased to exist in 2000 when it merged with CRS. It was owned by the (combined) Co-operative Group from then until the 'Crystal Methodist' debacle in 2013.

Is there a quotation/soft search which you can see?

ZeroSum

ForumUser7 said:

ZeroSum said:

I opened one a few years back as it had a decent rewards scheme. That's now nowhere near as attractive as it was. 

I don't think they're that bad, the rewards account is still a decentish debit card spending account for small amounts, with the flat rate 2p per transaction. And my local branch never has queues, so is handy if I ever need to deposit cash. Minor annoyance that their faster payments takes ages when receiving money

I've just referred my OH, so hopefully we'll get £250 between us, then she's planning on switching hers out again (I'm getting her trained in this mse lark)

@zerosum 'flat rate 2p per transaction' - does CO-OP charge you to make payments on your debit card?!

No, that's the cashback they pay you