Community Directplus

For registered charities, co-operatives, credit unions and community-interest companies

  • No monthly service fee

  • Eligible to apply for grants from the Customer Donation Fund

  • Discounted merchant services terminals, free Go Get Paid access and accountancy software integration

  • 50% off a Zellar subscription

Account overview

Only pay for what you use

Account service
Cost
Account service Monthly fee
Cost Free
Account service Automated credits
Cost Free
Account service Automated debits
Cost Free
Account service Debit card purchases
Cost Free
Account service ATM withdrawals
Cost Free
Account service Manual credits
Cost Free
Account service Cash paid in
Cost Free
Account service Cheques paid in/issued
Cost Free
Account service Cash withdrawals
Cost Free
Account service Cash exchanged
Cost £1.60 per £100

All definitions are explained within the tariff PDF. Read the full tariff for all fees and charges, terms and details.

Extras Details How to apply

Savings

View our savings accounts
Choose a savings option that suits your business goals During your application

Overdrafts

View our overdraft options here
Organise your cashflow During your application

Ready to check your eligibility and apply?

Additional support

Smartphone depicting an account balance Laptop depicting online banking functionality

Bank online, on the phone, on the go

Manage your account in a way that suits you

  • Mobile banking

    Manage multiple businesses from the same account, multiple users with payment authority, transaction history and payments

  • Online banking

    Send a variety of payment types, receive fraud and account alerts, have safe and secure open banking and have a daily limit up to £250,000

  • Financial Director Online

    Optional subscription service for complex payment types like bulk BACS, enable multiple business management and get a dedicated help desk

  • In branch or Post Office® banking

    Get banking support in branch from friendly advisors and deposit cheques and money or get change from your local Post Office®.

Our business tools

Grow and manage your business with a range of optional tools

  • Free and easy business payment requests

    Go Get Paid is a free app to quickly send payment requests to anyone

  • Start a sustainability journey

    Zellar helps you manage and improve your business’ sustainability goals

  • Easy ways for your customers to pay

    Clover has lots of options for payment and commerce solutions

  • Protect your business with insurance

    AXA Insurance provides options for your organisation and property

  • Expert advice to support your business

    Business Concierge offers legal advice, IT support and HR management

Clover Flex merchant services device

The Bank you can hold to account

October 2022 Which Eco provider for current accounts
Business Moneyfacts award winners 2016-2024
Take five to stop fraud

I'm ready to apply

Check your eligibility and apply.

If you've already started one, you can continue your application here.

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

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.

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

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 by completing our online application form. If your account requires three signatories or more to sign documents, you will receive an additional signing pack email from the Account Opening team to capture all required signatures.

Criminals recruit people to help them hide their criminal profits

Never open a bank account in either your name/business 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 about money mules

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

  • We aim to review your application within 5 business days

Apply

Does your organisation have eleven or more Key Individuals?

Are you a...

Continue a business bank 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?

The 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're looking for?

Review and compare our business current accounts.

See other accounts
  • Protecting your access to cash

    We know many people rely on cash to get things done. And new rules from the Financial Conduct Authority will help protect your access to it from 18 September 2024.

    Learn more about access to cash

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 Co-operative Bank 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.