Tag Archive for Co-Operative Bank

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Co-operative Bank to revolutionise small business banking offer

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
EXCLUSIVE: The Co-operative Bank plans to expand its Co-op small business banking offer over the next year following its £15m grant funded by RBS.
Last month, the Co-op announced that increased its lending to small business customers for the first time in six years as it seeks to cast off its past problems.
The bank is matching the £15m Banking Competition Remedies grant with £17m of its own money.
See also: Nationwide wins £50m prize to help boost small business banking
The bank is the UK’s seventh biggest provider of loans to small businesses but put the brakes on lending in 2013 after discovering a £1.5bn hole in its finances that threatened its survival.
Donald Kerr, managing director of SME banking, told Small Business that the bank will:

Put a small-business focused relationship manager back into branches
Introduce same-day business bank account opening next year
Modernise its online banking platform, making it much easier for SMEs to integrate online accounting packages
Launch a mobile app for business customers next year
Introduce its own-brand accountancy package in partnership with a Manchester-based fintech
Offer a three-month cash flow facility based on transaction history

This is in addition to offering 30 months’ free banking to new customers in

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Co-Operative Bank offers new business customers 2½ years’ free banking

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Co-Operative Bank has nearly doubled its free-banking offer for start-ups and SMEs from 18 months to 30 months.
New small business customers will benefit from free everyday banking – subject to certain transaction limits and a minimum credit balance of £1,000 – making it, says the Co-Op, the best introductory offer in the market.
The Co-Op bank aims to double its market share over the next five years, with a particular focus on supporting ethically minded businesses. One in five SMEs (22pc) are set up with a broader social purpose in mind.
In 2018, the Co-operative Bank had over 84,000 SME accounts, including 750 co-operatives, 5,000 charities and 218 credit unions, making it the seventh-biggest provider for business current accounts.
SME customers will then go on to the standard Business Directplus tariff once the 30-month period expires.

Official data indicates that businesses are most likely to struggle in their second year, says the Co-Op. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), one in four (26pc) of the approximately 380,000 businesses established each year are likely to struggle or fail within their first two years.
Existing Business DirectPlus customers currently in their introductory period will see it extended

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Nationwide wins £50m prize to help boost small business banking

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Nationwide Building Society has won a £50m grant to help support small businesses.
The award is part of a £775m programme funded by Royal Bank of Scotland as a condition of its bailout during the financial crisis. A total of £425m will be given in cash grants to rival business banks and financial technology companies, while a further £350m is being used to encourage RBS customers to switch to alternative providers.
Investec and the Co-Operative Bank, which won smaller awards of £15m each, have also pledged to match the prize with their own investments.
Nationwide will use the money to deliver new services for SMEs. The building society will match every pound received over five years to shape new products and services.
Nationwide says 7,000 branch workers will be trained in business banking and it will create a further 400 jobs. including at the society’s head office in Swindon, Wiltshire.
The society is the only major high street provider currently not to offer a business current account.
Five big banks dominate 85pc of the business lending market, where switching levels are low.
Nationwide aims to shake up the market by focusing squarely on supporting the UK’s 5.6 million SMEs. Among

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