Bank account switching – Co-Op Bank bonus

[OhOneTwoFour]

Following some comments on the recent chat thread, I thought I’d post this offer.

Amongst us savvy HfP’ers there’s always new bank accounts being opened to make ourselves a few quid, but this offer is not advertised on MSE (as you need the personal details of the referrer) – so might be one that’s been missed by many of us who play the switching game.

The Co-operative Bank have a Refer a Friend switching offer, giving you (and the referrer) £125 for opening an account with them and switching an existing account. There are no requirements for switching direct debits, no minimum deposits, no minimum monthly deposits etc – this is probably the easiest of all the switching offers.

You’ll be told the switch date when opening the account – you’ll need that for the referral form, which can be filled out once you’ve received your account details which you’ll get a few days after applying.

Full details are here – https://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/products/bank-accounts/refer-a-friend/

If anyone wants referral details, feel free to email me on canter20205 at gmail dot com!

[Robm]

Cheers. I’ll look at opening an account and get in touch for the referral.

Do they still only offer a max of 2 referer bonuses?

[Robm]

Checked Ts and Cs. You don’t appear to need a minimum pay in/ direct debits. There is also no limits on the amount of referral bonuses you can receive:
There’s no limit to how many friends you can refer, so every eligible friend you refer will receive a £125 reward.

[OhOneTwoFour]

Robm wrote:

Checked Ts and Cs. You don’t appear to need a minimum pay in/ direct debits. There is also no limits on the amount of referral bonuses you can receive:
There’s no limit to how many friends you can refer, so every eligible friend you refer will receive a £125 reward.

Indeed. A fairly easy and generous offer.

[Andrew.]

Why would you refer a friend to bank with the Co-op?

[Rui N.]

Who said anything about banking with them?

[OhOneTwoFour]

Andrew. wrote:

Why would you refer a friend to bank with the Co-op?

Only for the sake of receiving the switch bonus.
I have a few accounts that I bounce around for switching bonuses.
I am happy to get £125 from them for setting up an account.

[OhOneTwoFour]

gentle bump

[bradshmj10]

Robm wrote:

Cheers. I’ll look at opening an account and get in touch for the referral.

If you still require referral details drop me a message and I’ll respond quickly. Thanks again.

[bradshmj10]

Robm wrote:

Checked Ts and Cs. You don’t appear to need a minimum pay in/ direct debits. There is also no limits on the amount of referral bonuses you can receive:
There’s no limit to how many friends you can refer, so every eligible friend you refer will receive a £125 reward.

If you still require referral details drop me a message and I’ll respond quickly. Thanks again.

[OhOneTwoFour]

@BajiNahid you were asking on Fridays chat thread…

[RussellH]

I swore to myself back in 2006 following the death of my father that I would never again have any dealings with the Co-op Bank.
The CS was utterly appalling – the worst followed the death of my father: we had a joint a/c with them as executors of my mother’s estate.
(Dad was a great fan of the Co-op Bank). When I phoned to tell them that he had died and I would accordingly be operating the account on my own, they initially refused to talk to me as I did not know the telephone PIN – Dad had never told me about it.
Once I got around that, their specialist department for dealing with deceased customers blythely informed me that as one of the executors had died, I would have to “apply for probate again”.

That was the final straw – I had had any number of issues with them before that.

I think there is only one other company who I have had such appallingly bad service from – BT.
They make Barclaycard and Creation seem half competent.

[mark2]

I am doing this but learned the hard way to transfer the account while opening the coop account. Otherwise you have to ring them and it is impossible so far to get through.

[OhOneTwoFour]

mark2 wrote:

I am doing this but learned the hard way to transfer the account while opening the coop account. Otherwise you have to ring them and it is impossible so far to get through.

Absolutely – do it when applying for the account otherwise the only way to switch is over the phone or in branch.

[Philondon]

Hmm tempting but I don’t have any spare current accounts anymore after doing switching for years and tidying my bank accounts and credit cards recently.

[OhOneTwoFour]

Philondon wrote:

Hmm tempting but I don’t have any spare current accounts anymore after doing switching for years and tidying my bank accounts and credit cards recently.

I thought I was in that position too, but when this offer came along I set up a second new account with Nationwide and immediately used it to switch to Co-op.

[Philondon]

Actually to avoid my credit rating dropping a lot, I just read on the MSE website that “basic bank accounts” don’t do a credit check. So I’ll open one with Santander before switching to the Co Op.

[rio]

Philondon wrote:

Actually to avoid my credit rating dropping a lot, I just read on the MSE website that “basic bank accounts” don’t do a credit check. So I’ll open one with Santander before switching to the Co Op.

I have done few switches and generally new bank accounts don’t influence your credit score. I do opt out of overdraft if there is such a choice.

[duggie1982]

Philondon wrote:

Actually to avoid my credit rating dropping a lot, I just read on the MSE website that “basic bank accounts” don’t do a credit check. So I’ll open one with Santander before switching to the Co Op.

I noticed with santander and other banks it refers to the basic account should be applicable if you have been declined for one of ‘their’ current accounts. Not sure how strict they are with that but would be good to be able to open the basic one to avoid the credit check.

[OhOneTwoFour]

The Co-op website has just been updated to state that this offer is ending on 16th December, so if you’re interested you have until Friday to do it!

[johnwillis1986]

you reckon any refer a friend forms submitted before the 16th will still earn the bonus? even if the switch is later as the coop are usually giving late Dec or early Jan as earliest switch date?
m

[Ash]

Anyone had their new coop bank details (sort code, acc no) sent to them by email? I’m away from home till Dec 19th.

Or put another way – can you fill out the referral form if you do not have your new coop bank details yet?

[OhOneTwoFour]

johnwillis1986 wrote:

you reckon any refer a friend forms submitted before the 16th will still earn the bonus? even if the switch is later as the coop are usually giving late Dec or early Jan as earliest switch date?
m

I’ve seen a copy of a chat with co-op customer support where they clarified – the application to switch your account has to be completed on or before Friday 16th. So as long as the person being referred applies for an account and the switch on or before Friday, that’s fine.

They also said the form will be available until 30th December which will be the latest time you can fill it in and submit it.

So if you are applying between today or Friday you’ll be fine. You’ll likely get your account details early next week which will give enough time to get the form filled in.

Just be sure to note the switch date they give you during the application process – if you don’t, you won’t see the date anywhere else so you’ll have to call them, which is very annoying.

Ash wrote:

Anyone had their new coop bank details (sort code, acc no) sent to them by email? I’m away from home till Dec 19th.

Or put another way – can you fill out the referral form if you do not have your new coop bank details yet?

My account details were sent to me by email three days after I applied. You’ll need the details to fill out the form.

[Philondon]

duggie1982 wrote:

Philondon wrote:

Actually to avoid my credit rating dropping a lot, I just read on the MSE website that “basic bank accounts” don’t do a credit check. So I’ll open one with Santander before switching to the Co Op.

I noticed with santander and other banks it refers to the basic account should be applicable if you have been declined for one of ‘their’ current accounts. Not sure how strict they are with that but would be good to be able to open the basic one to avoid the credit check.

I managed to open a basic bank account with Santander. Annoyingly it didn’t add to my online banking and they emailed me a form to fill in to link it. Luckily I wrote down the sort code and account number when I set it up. I won’t bother linking the account as I’ve now applied to switch it with the Co Op.

[OhOneTwoFour]

Last chance to apply for an account + switch is today…