Co-Op FSB banking - your experiences please?

[Rienne]

We are considering moving to Co-Op business banking as a) it is free and b) we are deeply unhappy with the service from HSBC.


If anyone could let me have any comments on their experiences of the service I would be very grateful. I am particularly interested in the following aspects:


a) The call centre service - is it straightforward to use?

b) Using the Post office for day to day banking - pros/cons

c) Internet banking service

plus pros and cons in general

Much appreciated thanks

[FlexF]

I dont need to go to the branch a lot but it is restrictive they do not have many branches.

Internet banking is awful and frequently doesnt work. They have said they are in the middle of upgrading but this has been going on for 2 years.

Basically you get what you pay for. A small business that has basic needs I think it would be fine but anything more and its more hassle than its worth.

[Williams lester]

Why not also have a look at Alliance & Leicester or Santander who provide free business banking for life subject to certain conditions.

It will really depend on your needs from the banking facility....

[Batra Ventures UK Limited]

Co-op dont dont new business accounts anymore since the start of this year and possibly until Sept.

[consultant]

Batra Ventures,

are you saying that the FSB deal (as 'official supplier' of business bank accounts) is invalid or is this a general thing?

[Piqueperfumes]

Why not also have a look at Alliance & Leicester or Santander who provide free business banking for life subject to certain conditions.

It will really depend on your needs from the banking facility....

There was a thread the other day saying how bad Santander were. Just proves you can't please all of the people all of the time.
Cheers, Phil

[David Griffiths]

There was a thread the other day saying how bad Santander were. Just proves you can't please all of the people all of the time.
Cheers, Phil

Is that not always the case? Put up the name of any bank, and you will always find people ready to complain how bad they are.

[Piqueperfumes]

Is that not always the case? Put up the name of any bank, and you will always find people ready to complain how bad they are.

So true, same with cars, lol :)

[Dogsbody]

Hello,

I started with the Co-Op through the FSB in April/May time.

Ours is a small business making mainly cash deposits, but with a few cheques thrown in for good measure.

Our local branch is in town - if you know Cambridge you know how bad that can be. Made several deposits there just to get to know the ropes - few if any queues and good staff.

I mainly bank through our local village Post Office which is ideal. Only downside is that the deposit takes a bit longer to get through before they get into your account, but it's only a matter of an extra day or two. Cash is credited immediately in Co-Op branch. You have to nominate a Post Office branch to use, and I think you have to stay with that one rather than use any Post Office. No problem at present, but who knows....?

Call centre staff were great on the one occasion I called them. Talked me through what I thought was a problem but it was just a case of getting used to their procedures/terminology.

Internet banking has been fine for me so far. I've seen so many instances of people complaining about it, but it has been fine for my needs so far. I check the account several times a week, have made a few direct transfers to other businesses and had direct transfers in, and as I say, no problems at all. The new system is being rolled out but I'm still on the old system, so if the new one is better I'll be well happy.

There seems to be a lot of paperwork - I have one cheque book, one paying in book for the Co-Op branch, one paying in book for the Post Office, a cheque recording book for paying in at the Post Office, envelopes for paying in cheques at the Post Office, seperate envelopes for paying in cheques direct to the Co-Op..... - but as long as you know whats what I dare say it's not much different to other banks but it is very convenient.
Debit cards issued very quickly - I've only issued one cheque.

All in all, I'm very satisfied with the account and recommend it.

[An Oasis]

As has been said the Internet Banking can be a complete PIA. Depositing cheques on pension day at the PO is also an experience to be missed.

[Dogsbody]

As has been said the Internet Banking can be a complete PIA. Depositing cheques on pension day at the PO is also an experience to be missed.


But that's the joy of being self-employed. With-in reason you can tailor your banking to a time that is ideal for queues.

Since Browns messing about and cutting down on things that the Post Office can provide, I've never noticed any 'specific day queues' such as pensions, family allowance etc.

May-be the Post Office in my village is quieter than your Post Office

[NickBristol]

I've been using the FSB co-op account for 4 years now - not had any problems at all. The call centre staff have been great every time I've used them and although the old internet banking was a bit eratic, the new system is much better overall.

I bank my cheques by post as they are generally fairly infrequent and low-ish value and they are processed remarkably quickly. Any high value cash or cheques I bank in branch but I am quite often working around the area of the only branch in the city.

[frauke]

I used the coop for over 10 years until they updated their internet banking (dreadful) and due to the bank charges. I moved to Santander (Abbey), and stayed there for about 5 years, but 2+ years ago they updated the internet banking (slow) and kept deleting accounts. I did get quite a bit of financial compensation, but I would have preferred not to have the inconvenience, so last early year I moved to HSBC. I love the internet banking, and its so much easier and quicker. The only drawback is Cash - which I avoid!

[Julies bookkeeping]

I use the coop fsb, I love having the £25 put on my account each year for just having the account, no charges except on occasions where a clients cheque has failed, I love getting interest each month even if it is less than 10p.

I have had them lose a cheque envelope and it took about 5 months before the money was given back to me even though the money had left my clients accounts a few days after it was paid in at the post office, they did give me £25 compo for that, though it hurt at the time as I had to ring them every week. My clients did offer to cancel the cheques at their bank but coop said do not do that.

I now have a log in key and having trouble sometimes getting on the site, today I had to ring as my transaction were not showing.

Nearest branch is about 30 miles away, the post office I use is about 100 yards, so not a problem though it does take about 7 to 10 days before it shows up on my account.

I do not usually get paid in cash so have not paid any in so cannot comment on that part.

As a business account it is not brilliant, but for what I pay for my little business it is brilliant.

[Homshaw]

I used to like my Coop Business Account. I could print off statements or download them to a csv file right back when I opened the account in 2006.

However I had recently encounted two major problems.

Firstly I needed a bankers reference for a lease. This should have been easy because the account is always in the black. People were saying they were dealing with it and it would be sorted that day but they repeatedly failed to do so. So many people let me down it nearly cost me the lease. Even when I wrote a letter of complaint no one bother to reply

The problem is the local branches have nothing to do with the business side so it is difficult to sort problems as you need to ring Manchester and they don't seem to care

The second problem is they changed my account so it operates with a little device which generates a number. At the same time and without warning they removed all but the last 3 months statements. No problem if they had the manners to tell me first. If I need any missing statements it would cost 8 pounds a statement. Luckily I didn't. I seemed to get locked out once every three times I go on-line

I have a personal account with the coop I've had 38 years. The staff in the local branch are really nice but I'm seriously considering ditching the business account. Big difficulty is from what my clients tell me most banks provide poor service and levy unreasonable charges.

[David Griffiths]

There is a common, and depressingly frequent, problem with banks that are trying to get into the business market. It's that the staff in the branches frequently don't have a clue about business banking and business issues.

The "traditional" business banks aren't perfect, but you do have a chance that somebody in the branch knows what they are talking about. I've had a few clients suffer from this basic incompetence, from more than one bank, and personally I wouldn't touch one of the banks concerned with bargepole.