Community Directplus

For registered charities, community interest companies & benefit societies, co-operatives and credit unions.

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Community Directplus current account

Account highlights

This account offers registered charities, community interest companies, community benefit societies, co-operatives and credit unions an ethical way to bank. You can also apply for funding for special projects, as well as access free resources through our Business Support for Co-ops programme.

This year, we are proud to sponsor the Sport Gives Back Awards, a ceremony that recognises individuals and organisations that use sport to change lives. In addition to this, up to £20,000 from our Customer Donation Fund will be donated to Community Directplus customers who make a difference through sport.

Business Moneyfacts award winner 2023

Free everyday banking

Annual limits apply. Read the full tariff for all fees and charges

£1000

Apply for up to £1000 in grants from the Customer Donation Fund to support your project

8 years

We’ve been the winner of the 'Best Charity Banking Provider' award by Moneyfacts 8 years in a row

Key information

Our Community Directplus account benefits from:

  • Free software integration

    Integrate your accountancy software like Xero, Sage or Quickbooks within your online banking

  • Free payment request app

    Go Get Paid, the free, simple and secure app to help you get paid on time

  • Free support tools

    Start up guides, articles on the Business Exchange, free webinars and Co-operatives UK business support scheme

  • UK-based help and support

    Specialist business advisers on the phone and The Co-operative Bank Business Help app

  • Business services

    Partnership service offerings include insurance, sustainability tools, merchant services, HR tools and tech support

  • A choice of ways to bank

    Online and in-person banking including mobile, instant secure messaging, telephone and in-branch

50% off a Zellar subscription

Zellar is a software platform designed to support organisations to meet their sustainability goals, helping you to measure, manage and improve your sustainability scores. All of our Community Directplus customers now benefit from a 50% discount. T&Cs apply. Find out more here.

Ready to apply?

Check your eligibility and apply.

Tariff and fees

The Co-operative Bank reserves the right to review the account tariff for customers who exceed any one of the following annual limits of credit turnover exceeding £1m, depositing more than £100,000 in cash, or depositing more than 5,000 cheques.

Find out more about these standard charges, including other applicable charges and what they mean by viewing our Community Directplus Tariff PDF.

Free everyday banking

Limits apply

For registered organisations

This account is only available to registered charities, community interest companies, community benefit societies, co-operatives and credit unions.

  • Savings

    You can apply for one of our savings accounts during your application for this bank account.

    View our savings accounts

  • Overdrafts

    During your account application, you can also apply for an arranged overdraft for cash flow and short term borrowing.

    More about our overdrafts

How to apply

Please note: Your application is subject to status. This means we’ll assess your financial circumstances and complete credit checks.

To avoid delays, please ensure you add all key individuals within your organisation to your application.

If you’ve already started an application you can continue it here.

Before you apply

If you haven’t already, please read these documents before you apply.

To be eligible for the Community Directplus account you and key individuals must be:

  • 18 or over
  • A UK resident with a business address in the UK
  • Free from county court judgements (CCJs), bankruptcy and individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) over the last six years
  • Free from missed payments on any personal credit obligations in the last six months

Your organisation must be one of the following:

  • Registered charity (exempted charities must provide a letter of authority with their application)
  • Co-operative or community benefit society (if applicable, confirmation of registration with Co-operatives UK and community benefits society act required)
  • Credit union (evidence of FCA regulated status required)
  • Community interest company (must be registered at Companies House)

And your account must not go above any one of the following annual account limits:

  • Credit turnover more than £1 million
  • Deposit more than £100,000 in cash
  • Deposit more than 5,000 cheques

If your organisation is a limited company, the following must be true:

  • The director has never been disqualified
  • The business has never been subject to insolvency or an intention to dissolve
  • The business has not had a negative net worth in the last set of financial accounts

Your application is subject to status. This means we’ll assess your financial circumstances and complete credit checks.

Not eligible for this account?

You may be eligible for one of our other accounts.

See other accounts

To apply for the Community Directplus account, you’ll need:

  • Your business details, including tax information, expected turnovers and funds received by your business
  • Identity documents, such as your passport or driving license
  • A device to take a selfie during the application process
  • Key Individual’s details, including name, contact details, date of birth and address history of anyone else you need on the account

Read the following important documents and save copies for your future reference.

Business account Terms and Conditions PDF

Community Directplus Tariff PDF

Standards of Lending Practice PDF

How we use your personal information PDF

FSCS Information Sheet and Exclusions List PDF

Current Account Switch Agreement PDF

To view information on charging periods and pre-notification dates please visit our account charging page.

As a provider of UK business bank accounts, we have agreed to a basic set of information we’ll need from you to set up your UK business current account.

Find out what you’ll need to provide using the business banking checklist from UK Finance.

View UK Finance’s guide to opening a business account

  • Gather all the key information about your Organisation and the Key Individuals associated with the Organisation. By “Key Individuals”, we mean (i) You, (ii) all the other Directors/Trustees/Officers who are responsible for managing the Organisation and (iii) any Authorised Users whom the Organisation has appointed to also be responsible for operating the account. Without this information we cannot progress any further with the application. You can find a list of the required information in the 'Find out what you need to apply' section above.
  • We will check the details of any Key Individuals named on the application against credit reference and fraud prevention agency records. You need to be entitled to disclose information about any other Key Individuals named on the application. By continuing with the application, you confirm that you have gained prior consent from the other Key Individuals named on the application to disclose their information to us for the purposes mentioned above.

If you currently have an open Community Directplus account with us, please apply for an additional account using this form.

Criminals recruit people to help them hide their criminal profits

Never open a bank account in either your name/organisation name for someone else to use, or agree to move money through your account for someone else – even if they offer you money in return. If you do this, you could be committing a crime with serious consequences.

Learn more

Apply

Does your organisation have eleven or more Key Individuals?

Are you a...

Application timeline (for ten Key Individuals or less)

  • Less than 60 minutes

    Apply online

    On average completing the application takes less than 60 minutes. You can also save it to complete later.

  • Within 5 business days

    Timescales of applications

    We aim to review your application within five business days. We may require additional supporting information which we'll ask for at this time.

  • Within 10 business days

    Set up

    You will receive your online login information and security token details within seven to ten business days of application approval.

Please note if you are applying with eleven Key Individuals or more, your application will take longer to process.

Continue a business account application

Continue with a charities, co-operatives, credit unions and community-interest companies application

Continue an application

Already have a business current account somewhere else?

Our Current Account Switch Service makes switching your account simple, fast and free.

Learn how to switch your business account to us.

Current Account Switch Guarantee logo

Not found what you were looking for?

Business Directplus

For those who want a choice of how they bank

Suitable for businesses of all sizes

Free for 30 months, then £7 per month thereafter

Banking limits and minimum balance apply

    • Pay in cheques and cash for free

    • Online and in-person banking options

    Business Current Account

    For those who prefer to bank online

    Only for Sole Traders, Single Directors or Shareholders; from start-ups to established businesses

    No monthly service fee

    Charges apply for cash, cheque and other special services

    • Free automated debits and credits, debit card purchases, ATM withdrawals and manual credits

    • Online and in-person banking options

    Federation of Small Businesses account

    An account built for small businesses

    No monthly service fee

    Banking limits apply

    • Lower banking fees

    • No arrangement fees on overdrafts

    Financial Services Compensation Scheme

    Your eligible deposits held by a UK establishment of The Co-operative Bank plc are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK's deposit guarantee scheme. This limit is applied to the total of any deposits you have with the following: The Co-operative Bank, Britannia and smile. Any total deposits you hold above the limit between these brands are unlikely to be covered.

    Please read further information on the FSCS scheme here or visit their website.