The Co-operative bank wins award for helping small businesses with slow invoice payments
27 June 2025
2 min read
- The Co-operative Bank's Go Get Paid service for business customers has been awarded with the 2025 Celent Model Bank Award for Open Banking Innovation. Celent is a global research and advisory firm for the financial services industry.
- Go Get Paid allows small business customers to tackle the major challenge of slow or overdue payment of invoices.
- Go Get Paid is available for free to the Bank's 100,000 small business customers
The Co-operative Bank's Go Get Paid service, which helps small businesses invoice and receive payments, has won a 2025 Celent Model Bank Award for Open Banking Innovation.
Research from the Federation for Small Businesses (FSB) found that 50,000 business closures could be avoided each year if late payments had been made on time (1). Whilst further research found that a third have no measures in place to mitigate the issue (2).
Go Get Paid is available for free to the Bank's 100,000 small business customers and can send out payment request messages on email, SMS and WhatsApp. It can also generate a QR code for those wanting to pay invoices in person. Since its launch, 80% of payment requests made through the Bank's Go Get Paid service have been paid within two days.
Lisa Galley, Head of SME Banking at The Co-operative Bank, said:
“We are thrilled to win this award. The cost of waiting for payment is hitting many small businesses hard. They often don't have the cash flow to wait indefinitely to be paid for work they've already done and time spent chasing payment is time that should be used to expand their business further. Go Get Paid takes away the stress and time of invoicing, and since launch, 80% of payment requests made by our customers have been paid within two days. We're proud to offer this service for free and will continue to look for ways in which we can help our small business customers grow.”
Celent's annual award program recognises financial institutions as 'model banks' for their outstanding technology initiatives. In order to win, the initiatives must demonstrate clear business benefits, innovation, and technology or implementation excellence.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
(1) Policy Report | Time is Money - This will open in a new tab
(2) FSB | Late payments and payment methods in small businesses
To find out more about Go Get Paid, visit Go Get Paid | Business Services | The Co-operative Bank
To read the full case study from Celent, visit The Co-operative Bank: Helping Small Businesses Get Paid | Celent
To find out more about The Co-operative Bank’s business accounts, visit Business Bank Accounts | SME and Small Business Banking | The Co-operative Bank
Media Contacts
The Co-operative Bank Press Office
Tel: 0151 271 1985
Email: pressoffice@co-operativebank.co.uk
About The Co-operative Bank
The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. provides a full range of banking products and services to retail and SME (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) customers and is committed to values and ethics in line with the principles of the co-operative movement.
In 1992, The Co-operative Bank took the pioneering step to become the first UK bank to launch a customer-led Ethical Policy, which gives the Bank’s customers a say on the ethical issues that are important to them, and how the Bank could help. These answers form the basis of our Ethical Policy, shaping the Bank’s ethical commitments, the way in which it will use customer’s money and the issues it will campaign for. Since 1992, the Ethical Policy remains unique in the UK and has been updated six times in consultation with the Bank’s customers, to reflect their changing priorities.
Contact
The Co-operative Bank Press Office
Landline: 0151 271 1985
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