Awful experience - Business bank

The banking platform is stuck in the stone age! It's so badly designed and complicated to use. Want to pay someone new right now? Well, you can't, you have to wait for the 'cooling-off period' to finish. Which depending on what day of the week it is... Read more

The banking platform is stuck in the stone age! It's so badly designed and complicated to use. Want to pay someone new right now? Well, you can't, you have to wait for the 'cooling-off period' to finish. Which depending on what day of the week it is could be between 2-24 hours! Want to pay yourself or someone on a weekend? Nope, can't do that either. The platform logs you out within minutes of no activity, taking security to an annoying new level. You have to use a physical 'token' to access your account as their new banking app doesn't have this feature. Which other banks have had for many many years!

Everything is so overcomplicated and fiddly and has no user experience whatsoever. It makes the most simple tasks complicated. I am switching to Barclays business banking next week!

Reviewed on 7th December 2021

Kate Sullivan

Avoid This Bank Like The Pestilence

Avoid this branch and the uncooperative bank like the... Read more

Avoid this branch and the uncooperative bank like the pestilence.

The cooperative bank trades on the big selling point of being ethical, what a joke. I have PTSD, ADHD and Autism and when I tried to make a cash withdrawal from the Doncaster branch of the aforementioned bank they would not give me my own money because they did not believe what I was spending it on. I produced my autism awareness card but was still treated beneath contempt. Bear in mind I phoned online banking before going in to the bank to make my cash withdrawal and was told that I would encounter no problems. Anyway the cashier said I was basically lying about my intended purchases, then asked me how I wanted my money, gave me the slip of which I signed and then said I could not have my own money. I once more showed her my Autism awareness card, she called the manager who further intimidated me and I left the branch minus my own money, totally distraught and publicly humiliated.
When I got home I made a complaint and jokingly said, “What do I have to do to withdraw my own money, wear a mask and brandish a shot gun?” The phone line went dead and then come the weekend I received a visit from the Police, yes the bank reported me to the police for my off the cuff remark, the Policeman saw the joke and advised me to change banks. I replied, the none ethical cooperative bank have given me thirty days notice of closure of an account that I’ve held for over twenty five years. I escalated my complaint and they offered me thirty quid, but I have reported this none ethical bank to the ombudsman, whatever you do don’t open an account with this bank, because they do not want you to have access to your own money and are, given my above experience not disable friendly, uncaring, unfriendly, belligerent and totally without any ethics and discriminatory in their handling of disabled customers. I suggest a name change for this bank to the, “Uncooperative Bank”

Reviewed on 6th December 2021

Gooders Pitman

The Cooperative bank is discriminatory

The cooperative Bank Is... Read more

The cooperative Bank Is Discriminatory
The cooperative bank trades on the big selling point of being ethical, what a joke. I have PTSD, ADHD and Autism and when I tried to make a cash withdrawal from the Doncaster branch of the aforementioned bank they would not give me my own money because they did not believe what I was spending it on. I produced my autism awareness card but was still treated beneath contempt. Bear in mind I phoned online banking before going in to the bank to make my cash withdrawal and was told that I would encounter no problems. Anyway the cashier said I was basically lying about my intended purchases, then asked me how I wanted my money, gave me the slip of which I signed and then said I could not have my own money. I once more showed her my Autism awareness card, she called the manager who further intimidated me and I left the branch minus my own money, totally distraught and publicly humiliated.
When I got home I made a complaint and jokingly said, “What do I have to do to withdraw my own money, wear a mask and brandish a shot gun?” The phone line went dead and the I received a visit from the Police, who saw the joke and advised me to change banks. I replied, the none ethical cooperative bank have given me thirty days notice of closure of an account that I’ve held for over twenty five years. I escalated my complaint and they offered me thirty quid, but I have reported this none ethical bank to the ombudsman, whatever you do don’t open an account with this bank, because they do not want you to have access to your own money and are given my above experience not disable friendly, uncaring
and totally without any ethics and discriminatory in its handling of disabled customers

Reviewed on 6th December 2021

Gooders Pitman

Worst buisness online banking I have ever encountered

If you are a fan of fiddly, over complicated ways of managing your bank account online then this is the bank for you. Want to transfer money from your Coop account to one of your other accounts? Then be prepared to wait for anything from 20 mins to... Read more

If you are a fan of fiddly, over complicated ways of managing your bank account online then this is the bank for you. Want to transfer money from your Coop account to one of your other accounts? Then be prepared to wait for anything from 20 mins to half an hour for your money to get there. Every other bank is instant but I guess the Coop likes to be different. Logging on to your account online involves using a minute card reader with rubber buttons that don't always respond when you press and a very hard to read screen. Once you eventually get in to your account the fun just goes on and on. Everything you want to view or set up like adding or deleting beneficiaries can only be done with this very irritating card reader. Then when you do set one up you can't just go ahead and pay that person/business right away...oh no! You must wait for 24 hours before you are allowed to do that. Why? Who knows! If you have the audacity to try and send money to one of your befeficiaries after 8pm - not a chance. They will hold on to that payment till after 12. And, if your're transferring from one account to a Coop account don't expect them to move all your direct debits and standing orders. Nope. Not happening. If you need to speak to their customer services then be prepared for a min 40 min wait on a premium rate line. All in all I can safely say my blood pressure has risen significantly since I opened this account but I wont be hanging around for long.

Reviewed on 21st November 2021

Stephanie Booth

Appalling in everyway

They don't care about their business customers. My business partner and I have had our business account for 10 years. Coop have prevented us from accessing our account for 8 days now. I have spent hours on hold to be then told no one can tell me why... Read more

They don't care about their business customers. My business partner and I have had our business account for 10 years. Coop have prevented us from accessing our account for 8 days now. I have spent hours on hold to be then told no one can tell me why the account is 'frozen' just that I will get a phone call one day. We went into the Leeds branch and while Josh was nice, he couldn't help us The manager didn't bother to even come out of his office to spend 2 minutes with us. We have been unable to pay our wages, our office rent and other bills. No wages means we can't pay our mortgages, bills, buy food etc. It's shocking a bank can do this with no explanation. We also have a HMRC bill to pay soon. If we can't access our account our business will fold, it's that simple. It's shocking no one has called us to explain why. If you are considering opening a business account save yourself the stress which we are now going through not knowing how we are going to pay our personal and business bills. Appalling customer service.

Reviewed on 20th November 2021

Zareen Preston

If I could make it minus I would

30 minute wait but when I do, because my token is broken I have to wait for a human. BUT then the security questions are so numerous and diverse that I can't even answer them even though I am the only person ever to use the account. Joint up through... Read more

30 minute wait but when I do, because my token is broken I have to wait for a human. BUT then the security questions are so numerous and diverse that I can't even answer them even though I am the only person ever to use the account. Joint up through Federation of Small business and one of the q's is what is my FSB membership number!!! Oh hang on, let me just get that out of my pocket cos I keep that one with me AL the time (not). And it went on with even more ridiculous questions that I am supposed to have like what is the page number of the last statement I had. Cos I carry those around too!!?? Please do not bank with these neandatharls.

Reviewed on 3rd November 2021

Julie Hutchison

Shocking

I cannot believe in this day and age that such archaic banks exist. Call handling times are awful. I received a token to set up online banking. Definitely 1980's style. After passing all the security questions of which there were about 8, including... Read more

I cannot believe in this day and age that such archaic banks exist. Call handling times are awful. I received a token to set up online banking. Definitely 1980's style. After passing all the security questions of which there were about 8, including pass codes, spellings. I failed due to not being able to give the exact times of my transactions. Really... go somewhere else to bank.

Reviewed on 27th October 2021

Shuff

Worst customer service EVER!

They always have a wait time of 30 min + .... simple employ more people to answer the phones, which will result in happy customers

Reviewed on 14th October 2021

Anonymous

Online Banking

I can honestly say I've never encountered such a disfunctional, illogical, user unfriendly website of any kind, anywhere, as the Co-op's online business current account. IT IS SHOCKING. I still have an old on-line account I set up over 20yrs ago with... Read more

I can honestly say I've never encountered such a disfunctional, illogical, user unfriendly website of any kind, anywhere, as the Co-op's online business current account. IT IS SHOCKING. I still have an old on-line account I set up over 20yrs ago with Intelligent Finance which is like something out of a technological time warp, but puts the Co-op effort to shame. Who actwdesigned this, have they ever tried using it???

Reviewed on 9th October 2021

David L

Absolute Joke of a bank

If you are a business owner, do not open an account with this shambles of bank. Constant problems with the online service (which I think was created at the same time as dial up internet), an inability to answer the phone within a 3 hour period and all... Read more

If you are a business owner, do not open an account with this shambles of bank. Constant problems with the online service (which I think was created at the same time as dial up internet), an inability to answer the phone within a 3 hour period and all in all a sub-standard service.

Reviewed on 17th September 2021

Luke Murphy

Never in a million years - this bank is stuck in the 1980s

You want to pay a bill, you set up the beneficiary using your "token" which BTW is so inconvenient to carry around a small calculator!!! then you're told you need to wait 24 hours as a cooling off period to pay the beneficiary! Yet I've used their... Read more

You want to pay a bill, you set up the beneficiary using your "token" which BTW is so inconvenient to carry around a small calculator!!! then you're told you need to wait 24 hours as a cooling off period to pay the beneficiary! Yet I've used their secure token? Their app is even worse - you cannot make a transfer from a current to a deposit account. I moved from Natwest as there was a cash incentive. I really really wish I hadn't. It's 2021 seriously no facial recognition, their website is a screen scraped version of an old mainframe system it's dire. I've been with them for almost 10 months I'm done, I'm moving to a more forward thinking bank that actually has a website and app that doesn't take forever to make a simple payment, and one that doesn't make you carry around a calculator style pocket token! Sorry this is a rant but my goodness it's the most dated and awful website I've used in years! I HATE THIS BANK HATE HATE HATE

Reviewed on 12th September 2021

Christina

Horrific online business banking

MINUS INFINITY... Read more

MINUS INFINITY STARS.
The finacle site is by far the worst customer-facing application I've ever used.
It is completely illogical in its flow.
It is impossible for me to cancel a standing order as according to the site, I don't have any. Yet it's being paid every month, despite the recipient asking me to cancel it.
It logs me out randomly, telling me I've used the back button or I've been inactive - I've done neither - I am looking to find what I want from this hellish maze of a site.
CoOp should be *ashamed* to have their name associated with this dumpster fire.
I would never recommend a CoOp online product as a result.

Reviewed on 8th September 2021

James Jennett

no phone response

tried ringing a few times and its always the same long queues and and after waiting a long time you just give up and start looking for a bank that answers the phone wen you ring them

Reviewed on 8th September 2021

george critchlow

Terrible Internet Banking

Co-Ops previous online banking was poor, but the (relatively) new one is even... Read more

Co-Ops previous online banking was poor, but the (relatively) new one is even worse.

- Payments to new beneficiaries cannot be made for 24 hours
- Any click on back button (and we all do it, don't we?) logs you out
- Recent transactions are listed in a single column, not separate columns for credits and debits, so it's much harder to find transactions. If you look really hard you can just about make out the tiny minus sign which siginifies a debit.
- The default number of transactions shown is 5.
- When creating a BACS payment the screen constantly refreshes and flickers, while displaying odd messages that then disappear
- Quick link to 'Pay an existing beneficiary' does not let you set it for a date in the future, you can only do this via 'Pay an existing beneficiary' from the menu. Why?
- Frequent popups along the lines of 'we're resizing for your screen.' In this day and age? Try looking up responsive css.....
- Menu is really not user friendly

It's astonishing that something this bad could have been signed off by anyone. I also have a business account with LLoyds, and while not perfect, it is way way way better than this one.

Reviewed on 3rd September 2021

SBattersby

Terrible online portal and delay in setting up beneficiaries

The website is pretty much un-usable. When setting up a new beneficiary it creates an automatic delay of 24 hours(?!) before you can make a payment to them. Absolute joke.

Reviewed on 25th August 2021

Finance department

Terrible customer service

I have just opened an account with the Co-op but cannot use it because I cannot activate the security token to access internet banking. The token is activated by phoning the bank and going through... Read more

I have just opened an account with the Co-op but cannot use it because I cannot activate the security token to access internet banking. The token is activated by phoning the bank and going through security.
Unfortunately it is almost impossible to get through. There is a wait of over an hour to speak to anyone and I have not yet to had enough time to wait that long. Some people have reported waiting over two hours before they have given up.
In view of the difficulties getting through I will probably close the account and go elsewhere. Customers need to be able to speak to their bank. I cannot begin to imagine the stress if there is a problem with an account and not being able to speak to a member of staff..

Reviewed on 5th August 2021

Jenny Wilson

Worst bank ever

This bank has frozen my current account for almost 6 months now and have REFUSED to provide me with any legitimate reason or evidence as to why they did this! They also REFUSE to let me speak to a manager or any other department every single time I... Read more

This bank has frozen my current account for almost 6 months now and have REFUSED to provide me with any legitimate reason or evidence as to why they did this! They also REFUSE to let me speak to a manager or any other department every single time I call to ask (with wait times of up to an hour).
This bank is corrupt and operates fraudulently. They would sooner see you starve than admit to a mistake on their part.

Reviewed on 19th July 2021

Felix Byrne

The WORST Business Account!!

Not even an exaggeration, they've got it so wrong that it's not funny, just... Read more

Not even an exaggeration, they've got it so wrong that it's not funny, just infuriating!
I loved one of their customer service reps' response to why even wait times are ridiculous for business customers 'places like Barclays can afford more staff' well then, great sales pitch/excuse.

Here's why I'm leaving.
took 3 months for the account to open.
Once opened, a stupid pinsentry was sent to me (I thought these went out of date in 2010? but clearly they just started stocking them.
The Username and customer ID is ridiculous, esp the Customer ID, so I always need the paper to hand, its illogica & without the pinsentry of if the pin's battery goes - then so does your online access!
But it's okay, you have their long waits, multiple time-wasting options lists of a call centre to get through to.

But once you are logged into their website, its a diabolical mess.
You need to know the exact date of the statement you want?
What?? the date they sent it??? or is it just one day?
Well, it's definitely not just one day, as this doesn't load.
need to write stuff down by hand? then make sure you do it within 5 minutes or it'll log you out, and youll have to start all over again.
Need to view transactions? they will make this far more difficult for you too, it's like a gameshow you can only lose at.

I absolutely hate it. I hate their online crap, I hate their out dated system, and their long wait times.
not to mention that my business partner hasn't managed to access the account once in the 5/6 months that it's been open.
So we're leaving.

Not just that, it's put me off so much - I'm leaving as a personal customer too.
Pay a bigger bank to deal with your banking, look elsewhere.. if you value your time, are busy or have work to do.. then you don't need this hassle.

Reviewed on 26th May 2021

Leigh

If you do a lot of online banking, DO NOT USE THIS BANK

Applied for a business account as a benefit of FSB membership. Began using online service this week. Possibly the least user-friendly banking experience I've had: menu is counter-intuitive, found the statement option by accident after many frustrating... Read more

Applied for a business account as a benefit of FSB membership. Began using online service this week. Possibly the least user-friendly banking experience I've had: menu is counter-intuitive, found the statement option by accident after many frustrating minutes, appear to have been charged £10 to receive a payment by CHAPS but can't find the details anywhere -- only know cuz the amount shown is £10 less than the amount verified by the client's bank -- and the fee does not equate to anything listed in the tariff booklet. After waiting an hour (not 30 min as promised) on the phone earlier in the week during normal working hours, I tried ringing after 5PM for an explanation and was told the wait time would be even longer. Will keep the account cuz it was an ordeal to set up but will continue to use my original bank.

Reviewed on 28th January 2021

J Cornell

Moved from the royal bank of Scotland on the business switch.

It is like going back in time.whilst I was aware there is a banking app on its way .when I don’t no and nobody else seems to no.it is all very frustrating with all the user name and token machine etc.and when u get on ur account it doesn’t seem to get ... Read more

It is like going back in time.whilst I was aware there is a banking app on its way .when I don’t no and nobody else seems to no.it is all very frustrating with all the user name and token machine etc.and when u get on ur account it doesn’t seem to get any better.I don’t seem to be able to get on with the way it is set out and find it easy to make a mistake and it logs u out again.then u have to go through the whole procedure again to get back on .maybe moving from a good bank with a good app and ease of use was a mistake..I can only hope the app comes soon and it makes getting on ur account easier and easier to use once u are on it or I can see another bank switch happening .

Reviewed on 26th December 2020

Steven