Co-Op renaming savings account and backdating reduction in rate with no notification

General_Grant

Online my account showed an interest rate of 4.75%.  As this was instant access and not a "bad" rate, I had a high-ish balance.
Then I "upgraded" my current account with them (when they removed the existing overdraft whilst seeking a £15/month fee without notifying me this overdraft change would happen) and apparently simultaneously changed the name of the savings account and displayed 1.81% as the interest rate.  As I queried this they now tell me this rate has applied since September.

Obviously I am moving my savings out and will raise a complaint.

This post is to ask whether others have found the same has happened to them and to warn others who may have recently upgraded their Co-Op current account to check whether similar changes are now showing.

wmb194

General_Grant said:

Online my account showed an interest rate of 4.75%.  As this was instant access and not a "bad" rate, I had a high-ish balance.
Then I "upgraded" my current account with them (when they removed the existing overdraft whilst seeking a £15/month fee without notifying me this overdraft change would happen) and apparently simultaneously changed the name of the savings account and displayed 1.81% as the interest rate.  As I queried this they now tell me this rate has applied since September.

Obviously I am moving my savings out and will raise a complaint.

This post is to ask whether others have found the same has happened to them and to warn others who may have recently upgraded their Co-Op current account to check whether similar changes are now showing.

Was it a special rate linked to the type of current account?

"If you convert your Current Account Plus to a standard Current Account, your Savings Plus account will also be converted to a standard Linked Savings account and the lower variable rate of interest for that account will be paid."

https://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/products/savings/all-accounts/

General_Grant

But any conversion of my current account was within the last week.  They told me they were paying the 1.81% to me with effect from September!  And it wasn't converting the current account to a Standard current account but a packaged one.

wmb194

General_Grant said:

But any conversion of my current account was within the last week.  They told me they were paying the 1.81% to me with effect from September!  And it wasn't converting the current account to a Standard current account but a packaged one.

If all you had was the standard account then 1.81% would make sense. Seeing 4.75% may have been a mistake or a misunderstanding.

km1500

in order to get to the bottom of it you might have to wait until the complaint is dealt with -  see what comes back.

General_Grant

Whatever has happened it has completely destroyed my trust in the Co-Op Bank.  They would appear not to be able to organise the proverbial in a brewery.

pfpf

General_Grant said:

Whatever has happened it has completely destroyed my trust in the Co-Op Bank.  They would appear not to be able to organise the proverbial in a brewery.

many on here have known that about them for quite some time. 

km1500

IMHO grocers should stick.to selling groceries

[Deleted User]

km1500 said:

IMHO grocers should stick.to selling groceries

Whatever you say - Coop haven't owned the bank for years.

The change strongly suggests that they've backdated to the start of the current quarter (which may be in the T&Cs) and that they check if you have the plus account for the whole quarter. 

hgt

I suspect you had a 'Current Account Plus' (I've got the same). It comes with a 'Savings Plus' account which is linked to the base rate (so very competitive at the moment). It's long since not been available, so any change to your current account and you'll lose the 'Savings Plus' account I'm afraid. It's all in the terms and conditions - so to be fair I don't think you'll get very far with a complaint to be honest 🙁 

General_Grant

hgt said:

I suspect you had a 'Current Account Plus' (I've got the same). It comes with a 'Savings Plus' account which is linked to the base rate (so very competitive at the moment). It's long since not been available, so any change to your current account and you'll lose the 'Savings Plus' account I'm afraid. It's all in the terms and conditions - so to be fair I don't think you'll get very far with a complaint to be honest 🙁 

Fortunately 4.75% is available elsewhere, which is where for the time being I am transferring my funds.  Any way, this gives me an account I can move elsewhere.