The Co-operative Bank (Co-op) plans to
put interest charges on hold for all customers with an agreed
overdraft, until the beginning of April 2012, with an aim to
provide “financial relief ” for customers post the festive
period.
According to Co-op, a current account customer
who has an agreed £2,000 overdraft could save almost £75 in fees
throughout this three month offer period.
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Head of Banking at Co-op, Robin Taylor, said this move highlights
how the lender is “looking to bring some much needed competition to
the high street, by providing customers with a genuine alternative
to the big five banks.”
“In these difficult economic times, we want to
offer a helping hand to those customers, who may be struggling
financially, and give some additional support to those whose
finances may be stretched after the festive period,” said
Taylor.
Research conducted by Co-op reveals that the
average British adult accumulated just over £749 of debt last year,
and the number of people gathering debt increased by 27%
in 2011, compared to 2010.
Highlighting the extent to which people feel
they will be able to repay their debts in 2012, the Co-op research
reveals just over one in ten consumers (12%) don’t believe they
will be paying any of their 2011 debts off this year and just under
a third of consumers (29%) expect to pay back less than half
and
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By GlobalDataJust over 27% of Brits who accumulated debt in
2011 actually expect to pay back all of their previous year’s debt
in the next twelve months, with an additional quarter expecting to
pay back half or more (26%).
Robin adds: “Many people review their finances
at the start of the year. As a responsible lender, we want to
encourage customers to take control of their finances by providing
them with the additional leeway to begin tackling any debts.”
The research findings also shows which forms of borrowing people
have used over 2011, with the most common being credit cards (58%),
followed by personal loans (20%) and arranged overdrafts (16%).
However, 7% used store cards and 5% took out payday loans.
The Co-op has £70bn in assets, staff strength of approximately
12,000, and 9m customers. The Co-op currently has 1.5m current
accounts and over 300 high street branches.
