Welcome to this newsletter from the Customer Union for Ethical Banking, the independent union for customers of The Co-operative Bank – and now also Coventry Building Society. This month we focus on reporting back to you on our recent meeting with the bank.
Our meeting with the bank
In May, Shaun and Rob from the Customer Union met with Maria Cearns, Chief Operating Officer at the Co-op Bank, and other colleagues at the bank, shortly after our last newsletter reached your inbox. These meetings are part of the ‘structured engagement’ programme we now have with the bank following the signing of the recognition agreement in 2019.
From our side, we updated the bank on how we’ve changed our name and our mission following the bank’s acquisition by Coventry Building Society, as well as inviting members of the building society to join.
From the bank’s side, Maria updated us on the progress of the merger and some of the cultural differences between the bank and its new owners. One example of this is how the Co-op Bank has taken a bold stand on ethical issues in the past. While the Coventry Building Society is no stranger to ethical banking – and in some areas is ahead of the bank – it tends to be less vocal about it. This points to a role for us at the Customer Union in encouraging the new group to build on the best aspects of both, including being a noisy advocate for tackling environmental damage, climate change and human rights abuses.
There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes to align sustainability and “net zero” efforts at both the bank and the building society, in terms of data gathering and reporting – and we can expect a Sustainability Report covering both Coventry and the bank next year.
We also heard about some of the bank’s current sustainability priorities – its support for the DEC Myanmar Earthquake Appeal; its continued partnership with Friends of the Earth’s Postcode Gardeners campaign; and renewed funding for Co-operative UK’s Business Support for Co-ops (formerly known as The Hive). The bank is also involved in a pilot scheme headed by Greater Manchester’s Mayor, Andy Burnham, to provide university-style halls of residence for apprentices – see the story in the Manchester Evening News. And beyond sustainability, we heard how focused the bank is in getting call answering times down.
We raised some issues from Customer Union members with the bank and will report back on the bank's responses soon. These meetings, which we aim to hold regularly, are part of our work to represent you, our members and supporters; ensure the bank hears about your interests and acts on them. So if there are issues you would like us to raise at the next meeting, do email us! Just reply to this email.
Save Our Bank = Customer Union
A reminder that with the Co-operative Bank back in mutual ownership we're retiring the Save Our Bank name - in use since we started the campaign in 2013.
Our website is now at: https://customerunion.coop and we have a new contact email address: [email protected] - the old email and website addresses still work though.
On Bluesky? Follow us there!
Since Elon Musk has ruined Twitter, we’ve switched over to Bluesky. If you have an account, come follow us! Even better, why not share your thoughts on this newsletter there and tag us.
That’s all for this month’s newsletter; thank you as ever for reading and supporting the Union.
With best wishes,
The Customer Union team
Have you joined the Customer Union yet? It costs £15 a year to be a member of the first ever customer union co-operative, and help us ensure the Co-op Bank sticks to its principles. We also welcome Coventry Building Society members. It only takes a few moments to sign up here.
