Co-Op Bank Switcher Offer - Launched 07/06/24

Jamzar

The Co-Op bank have launched a new switching offer yesterday, not seen a new thread for it. £150 is up for grabs but it is certainly a more involved switch than more recent ones have been.

At the moment no published end date but you need two direct debits for this one amongst the other conditions to hit the various gates for money to be released.

However what’s interesting about the direct debits seems to be that you can switch in an account without them included and set them up after the switch has happened as long as it is within 30 days of the switch completing.

In terms of whether you can get the switch the main term linked to timeline is:

” 1.4 Has not previously benefitted as a new customer from this, or any previous Co-operative Bank current account switch offers since 01/11/2022. This includes if a Refer a Friend referral form has been submitted and is due to be paid after this offer was made available.”
 

Anyone going to give this a go? I would post a link to it but not been around long enough to include links in my post 😆.

kaMelo

https://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/products/bank-accounts/switch-and-save/

Definitely a lot of things to do compared to the previous offer.

gsmh

I switched to the Co-operative Bank just before this switch incentive was announced. Even if I had opened the account after the incentive was announced I would have been ineligible anyway, given I received an incentive in December 2022.

My decision to move my main current account to the  Co-operative Bank was based on the likely take-over/purchase by the Coventry Building Society. I like to bank as ethically as possible, which is always a compromise, but the Co-operative Bank ownership was a sticking point for me - hedge-funders are not particularly ethical.

I opened a current account to see if things were better since 2022. They are. I have a few positive observations. Online banking now shows pending transactions. That's a big improvement. I like how the app and online banking looks. It pleases me. I needed to call the bank a few times on one day - to add my card to Google Pay, to set up a Verified by Visa password, and then again because the Verified by Visa password didn't work (there was a miscommunication of one of the characters). In each case my call was answered within a couple of minutes and the issue sorted very quickly. I have made a few faster payments in and out of the account and they were markedly quicker than before. The longest they took has been 10 minutes. These were all issues previously.

Hopefully the buyout by the Coventry BS goes ahead, it's all down to the regulator now, in which case the ethical crown worn by Triodos will be removed. An ethical AND effective, modern(ish) bank trumps the ineptitude which is Triodos.

Jami74

So, to get the £15/month open a regular saver and deposit £50/month into it and deposit £1,000 into the current account, have 2 direct debits and spend 10 times on the debit card. I can imagine even people who use it as their main account could miss meeting all the criteria every month.
It was the X or more card transactions that I struggled with on a previous bank switch, ended up toping up my Amazon gift card by £1 lots of times and making lots of £1 deposits into my NS&I savings account.

steven141

It’s not clear. I have received a refer a friend bonus for someone recommending me late last year but will I be eligible to get this as I don’t currently have a co-operative bank account. I closed it at the beginning of the year. 

danny13579

steven141 said:

It’s not clear. I have received a refer a friend bonus for someone recommending me late last year but will I be eligible to get this as I don’t currently have a co-operative bank account. I closed it at the beginning of the year. 

I think it means that you have not benefitted by switching into a Co-op account as a new customer since 1st November 2022, i.e. you opened a new account, switched and submitted a referral form with a friend's details (you were the referee) on it since that date, rather than the other way around which you describe (where you were the referrer).

Problem is that the terms say "if a refer a friend form has been submitted" rather than "any applicant who ... has submitted a refer a friend form". The latter refers to you only, the former to anyone.

So right now, each time I read it I interpret it differently! 

gsmh

To me it means if you have received any incentive from the bank since 1 November 2022 you are not eligible.

danny13579

gsmh said:

To me it means if you have received any incentive from the bank since 1 November 2022 you are not eligible.

It says "has not previously benefitted as a new customer".

What if you had an account with Co-op for say 20 years, someone new used your name and account details in their referral form and you received a bonus as a referrer after 1st November 2022.

But you have not benefitted as a new customer.

Does this make you ineligible for this offer?

steven141

It’s really strange how this offer is missing from the Money Saving Expert website. 

WillPS

steven141 said:

It’s really strange how this offer is missing from the Money Saving Expert website. 

Give 'em a chance, it was only announced this morning and MSE staff mostly work weekdays.

Very possible they didn't have advance sight of this.

Digital_Payback

qbadger said:

I think it depends on how the "new current account customer" in Section C(6) should be parsed:
[new] [current account] [customers] vs
[new current account] [customers]

Agreed. But the bank’s interpretation will usually be the opposite to the one most beneficial to the applicant. 💷    😆