Reasons To Love My (UK) Bank
I love my bank in the UK. I love that they’re an online bank, but part of The Co-Operative Bank, and so governed by the Co-Op’s Ethical Policy. I love that I can be happy that my money’s not being used to support industries or regimes engaged in practices I don’t approve of. I love that they provide interest on their current accounts, and it’s better than most other banks’. I love that they keep customers informed about changes to the way their account works, or the charges on it, and do so in nice, simple terms, not the grim jargon that most banks indulge in. But also, they make it clear that they need to act like a bank that needs to charge for some things in order to keep themselves viable. I don’t mind paying when necessary in these circumstances.
And I love that they act like human beings dealing with human beings. Like this morning I had a mail from them saying that they want to be fairer about dealing with charges on informal overdrafts (ie those odd occasions when you might go overdrawn for random reasons without planning for it ahead of time). Basically, if you usually operate your account in credit or within the bounds of an agreed overdraft, and you get it back to that state within 6 days, they’ll waive the charge that should strictly speaking apply.
What’s not to love?