The Co-operative Bank is a UK based commercial bank. It was founded in 1872, and is headquartered in Manchester, England. The Co-operative bank has over 140 outlets and 35,000 ATM locations all over the UK, which customers can use without any service fees.
The Co-operative bank, currently, has over 4 million customer accounts. The bank also provides many of its services to the local authorities and business in the UK. Following its ethical policy in 1992, the Co-operative bank the bank doesn’t affiliate itself with companies that are involved in unethical actions, such as animal testing, genetic engineering, trading of arms, sweat shops, have negative impacts on the global climate. With this policy, many people who do not want their money used for unethical purposes by companies and organizations have used the Co-operative Bank to make sure that does not happen.
History of the Co-operative Bank
Tracing the Co-operative Bank back to its origins, in the early years after its formation the bank only took deposits and provided loans to local societies that were considered retail co-operative. But before long, the Co-operative Bank started providing its services for personal customers.
After that, the Co-operative bank began to grow. Branches began to open all over the UK; in Newcastle, London, and Glasgow. After WWI, the bank began to expand even more.
By 1972, the Co-operative bank had 32 branches in the UK. In 1975, the bank joined the Committee of London Clearing Banks, which caused the Co-operative Bank to become more popular and grow significantly.
In the early 1990s, the Co-operative bank introduced Visa cards that were “free for life”. With the introduction of these cards, the Co-operative Bank shot to success and made a name for itself in the credit card market.
In 1996, the Co-operative Bank introduced the Advantage card, which had the lowest interest rate ever on a credit card. The card was created for the people who were always stuck in tough spots because they could pay the interests rates on their cards and an interest-free period was not enough.
Co-operative Bank Services
From the bank services, a customer can get a savings account, receive a mortgage or loan, or obtain a credit card. The Co-operative Bank allows customers to do all of their banking online on their website.
The Co-operative Bank also can provide insurance to its customers. The insurance that the bank offers includes automobile insurance, home insurance, life insurance, health insurance, and business insurance. For investments, customers can get unit trusts, ISAs, child trust funds, pensions, and bonds. All of which also have different options.