Co-op App update

Stuart_W

The Co-op Bank app continues to slowly catch up with features on other apps.

Having finally added the option to freeze a credit or debit card earlier this year, they have now added options to block or allow separately each of the categories contactless, in-person, online, abroad and gambling transactions.

Rob5342

That's interesting to know. I opened a current with them for the switching bonus but I was amazed at how old fashioned they are, they make Nationwide look like an up to date company!

ChirpyChicken

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82016138#Comment_82016138

Feels like 20 years behind

Rob5342

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82016593#Comment_82016593

It's odd how they were quite ahead of things in 1999 and started smile which was an online only banj, but then seemed to lose interest in anything remotely modern.

Stuart_W

They experienced organic growth during the 2008 chaos in a (now clearly ironic) "flight to trust" as the then boss called it, but in 2010 completed a merge with an essentially bankrupt building society which scuppered them, and since 2013 the hedge fund owners flip-flopped between investing in creaking systems and looking to grow through acquisition to achieve scale as a route to profitability on the one hand, and looking to sell for a quick exit on the other. There were quite a few failed IT projects along the way. It was never clear if the bank would survive stand-alone so long term investment was difficult. That's finally been answered with the sale to Coventry Building Society, so it will remain as a stand alone bank with CBS/Co-op integration, which will be gradual over a few years. They are yet to announce whether a single brand will be used, or if both will remain, but ultimately even if both heritage brand names are used, they could all eventually use one single system.

It's slowly being dragged into 21st century banking, still a few improvements to go but definitely getting there. They haven't made any major mess ups with my main current account in over 30 years so that'll do for me.

Would be nice to finally see payments from a Co-op current account to a Co-op credit card actually be instant and not take one working day to go out and another to "appear" as a payment (so there's a weird one day where the money is missing) It's odd that I can pay a third party account instantly through faster payments but I can't pay the Co-op's own credit card in the same way. Probably on the to-do list.

oldagetraveller1

Hopefully, in addition, they will add the function to select a lower contactless limit.

steven141

I have noticed that payments to other accounts are now instant with the co-operative bank unlike before it used to take hours or days.

Stuart_W

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82016772#Comment_82016772

Yes, they missed a chance to do this with the latest update, you can have contactless ON or OFF but not set a limit.

Stuart_W

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82016833#Comment_82016833

Their first adoption of faster payments was a mess, often taking a couple of hours, then seemingly to go in 5 or 10 minutes ( I think some 10-minute batch basis seemed to be in operation) but now unless the payment is flagged for additional checks, all payments seem to be instant as I generally get a payment received notification from the receiving organisation within a second or two of sending it.

ChirpyChicken

I used to think how advanced thier online banking was when I had thier pathfinder account back in the day

Stuart_W

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82017118#Comment_82017118

That was a great account in the mid 90s! I also remember you could use Sky Analogue Teletext (SkyText) to get balance and transaction details on the screen when entering a code from the screen into your home phone. I never had Sky then but I did amaze a couple of friends with this when visiting. At a time when dial-up internet was still a costly monthly subscription, this was quite something radical.

Good to see they are catching up so they can hopefully survive as a decent challenger to the big players.