Co-Operative Bank

"Very Long Wait for Payout with the Career Development Loan" Student , Aberdeen
I decided to approach the Co-op Bank to apply for a Career Development loan after hearing of contemporaries who had done the same, and who had in the most part received very friendly and efficient service. Unfortunately, this year myself along with quite a few other students I have spoken to have had real problems with the sheer amount of bureaucracy involved and the unreasonable amount of time between the initial application and the payout. It has now been over three months since I applied for this loan, and a friend of mine is in exactly the same situation, really struggling to make ends meet in the mean time whilst trying to knuckle down and focus on the Postgraduate course in hand (which was by no means a cheap endeavour in the first place). I phoned today, and although the people on the phone have been polite whenever I contact them they have always given me a rolling statement of 'oh you should receive this or that in the next week'. This has been happening week after week. I know that the service the Co-op provides in terms of the Professional and Career Development Loan is invaluable, especially now that the Royal Bank of Scotland no longer provides it and Barclays is now the only sole alternative option. However, is it to be the case that students are in a constant financial struggle throughout the first half of their postgraduate courses before they receive even a whiff of the help and relief a loan can provide? When they have monthly repayments with a high interest rate to look forward to after their course finishes, surely it is only fair that they receive their loans in time to really help them in their studies? Needless to say, I am extremely disappointed with the Co-op and would recommend others to perhaps try Barclays as they have a lower interest rate, and may actually provide you with a loan while your course is still commencing.

"Happy with service" Nige
I've been with the Co-op bank for just over a year now having switch from First Direct and so far they have really been a pleasure to deal with. The call centre staff have always been friendly and helpful and never try to cross sell any of their other products as a parting shot. Yes, I agree the online banking could do with some modernisation but all the essentials are there and it's simple to use. What's more I found it to be 100% reliable. Far better than some jazzy, all singing and dancing system that never works

"no different to the other banks" Paul
i bank with the co-op whenever i call they are not very helpful unless you want to buy another credit card or loan, their knowledge is shaky and i'm sure i've spoken to teenagers before now who didn't know what an overdraft was when i asked. The length of time i've had to wait to speak to an operator is unsatisfactory and then you are transferred to another department because you've rang the wrong one. They are only interested in your money so they are not different to any other bank i've been with just worse service.

"I like going in and talking to someone " Pamela
I decided to go with Co-Op as I liked the idea of going in and talking to someone about my finances instead of doing it all on-line. But, the staff weren't helpful or friendly and made the process seem a lot harder than it should have been. The APR rates are fixed which is nice but when I received my documents it was a different APR than advertised.

"£25 courier fee" John
I chose the quick advance payment of £25 and to be fair it was really quick. But, if I hadn't have paid for it then my money would have taken ages. Another thing they are missing is payment holidays, unfortunately they don't offer any.