Latest news

21st November CUEB Gathering – 2:30pm

Introduction

This is a short report from the 5th annual Gathering of the Save Our Bank campaign and Customer Union for Ethical Banking (CUEB). As in the last three years, we were joined by representatives of the Co-operative Bank. We also had 55 attendees at the start of the gathering; a record for any CUEB meeting so far.

Report from Maria Cearns and Lesley McPherson of the Co-operative Bank

The Co-operative Bank has been approached by a prospective buyer.

Guardian and Sky news identify as Cerberus Capital Management

In line with our formal recoginition agreement, the Co-op Bank informed the Customer Union on 17 November that it had received "a non-binding offer for the bank" and that "discussions are at a very preliminary stage". The bank went on to say that "Our priority and focus remains to deliver our agreed plan and transformation over the coming years". The formal announcement by the bank, made to conform with regulatory requirements is here:

The Cooperative Bank has been named Current Account Provider of the year in the Moneyfacts awards 2020.

Lee Tillcock, Editor of Moneyfacts said "By continuing to provide support via a straightforward and reasonable agreed overdraft rate and a leading rewards bonus, the Co-operative Bank is the deserved winner of the Best Current Account Provider category at the 2020 Moneyfacts Awards."

You can read the Co-operative Bank press release here.

The Cooperative Bank has announced Q1 2020 trading results.

we are providing payment holidays for approximately 17,000 mortgage, loans and credit card customers to date

Headlines are:

CEO of the Co-operative Bank, Andrew Bester, has issued a message addressed to all customers.

The message, which you can view here, makes it clear that the Bank will stand behind customers, explains that the bank is getting a lot of calls, and warns about scams. 

Stay safe and look after each other, and please remember we are here to help.

The Guardian business pages has picked up the story of the agreement between the Co-operative Bank and the Customer Union.

Speaking to the Guardian, Ryan Brightwell, a Customer Union director, spoke about the beginnings of the Save Our Bank Campaign “Initially there was a lot of concern. We were alarmed that the hedge fund owners were coming in”

our regular conversations with the customer union are positive

Andrew Bester, CEO of the bank told the Guardian “It’s fantastic that we have a group of loyal customers as committed to our ethical brand as we are – and our regular conversations with the customer union are positive and very valuable in terms of understanding what matters to them."

NEWS RELEASE

The Co-operative Bank signs recognition agreement with union of customers

The Co-operative Bank has strengthened its position as a key player in ethical banking signing a formal recognition agreement with The Customer Union for Ethical Banking, an independent organisation representing thousands of Co-operative Bank customers concerned about the UK’s social and environmental issues.

Rob Harrison from the Customer Union said: 

In its report on trading in the nine months to September 2019, the Co-operative Bank pointed to "Balance sheet growth driven by resilient mortgage performance" and "Underlying profit £2.3m year to date with core income in line with 2018".

However at £118.6m, losses were actually up 36% on the same three quarters in 2018. The bank pointed to its £60m 'PPI charge' as being the cause. This is the provison that the bank makes to allow for pay outs on payment protection insurance claims, and follows the final deadline for claims to be submitted. Other banks have experienced very high volumes of last minute claims.

We asked the bank to comment and they said: