Welcome to this first newsletter of 2026 from the Customer Union for Ethical Banking, the independent union for customers of The Co-operative Bank and Coventry Building Society.
Our priorities for 2026
2025 was a big year for the Co-op Bank, with Coventry completing its acquisition of the business. And for the Customer Union, we formally left our old “Save Our Bank” name behind, and updated our two main goals. Our mission now is to “work to help get the Co-operative Bank and Coventry Building Society: (1) back out in front on ethics, and (2) to engage fully in the co-operative sector.
These goals are guiding our priorities going forward. In addition, we see three big themes for the year ahead. These are
- Securing the extension of the Co-op Bank's ethical policy across the merged group,
- Continuing to advocate for its active engagement in the co-op sector.
- Continuing to press the Bank to return to radical campaigning on issues that matter in 2026.
Bank restates ethics in campaign
As if by good fortune, we noticed a new campaign announcement by the Bank at the end of January. This is great to see.
We see also that the bank has also re-launched its £175 switching scheme from the end of January.
Got five minutes for a quick survey?
To kick off 2026 we have developed a quick survey to seek your views. This can help us make sure that our main goals and mission still make sense. We had a great annual Gathering last month, but of course only a small proportion of our 10,000 members and supporters are able to attend a two-hour Zoom call on a Saturday. (And it would probably break our Zoom account if you all showed up! We’d certainly have to skip the round of introductions.)
So, we’d like to make sure our strategy is informed by the views of as many of our supporters as possible. We’d also like to understand a bit more about who you are and how we can make sure we’re engaging our supporters in the right way.
Please click here to take the survey. Thank you.
Membership renewals
Many of our members' annual renewals are due around now. If you are a member then please look out for a renewal email from us. To renew just click on the link in the email, or copy it and paste it into your browser. You can tell the email is from us because it will start with "Dear" and the full name you gave when you signed up. The renewal link will start with "customerunion.coop/renew/..." - this link is safe to visit.
If you are a member, thanks for your support! If you aren't yet, please do consider joining us and helping us achieve our new aims.
Save Our Bank = Customer Union
The Co-operative Bank is back in mutual ownership. Both objectives of the Save Our Bank campaign - from 2013 when it started - have now been achieved. Now the Customer Union for Ethical banking is continuing the work to keep the bank out front on ethics and fully engaged in the cooperative movement.
Our website is now at: https://customerunion.coop
You can email us at: [email protected]
On Bluesky? Follow us there!
Tag us with your Co-op Bank related views and questions on BlueSky – @cuebcustomerunion.bsky.social
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.
This version of the newsletter was modified following clarification from the bank on the integration process and timing.
