Switch your business bank account

Switching your business bank account to us is simple with the free Current Account Switch Service. You can switch your business bank account from one participating bank or building society to another quickly, easily and securely.

Who can apply?

How does it work?

How do I apply?

The Current Account Switch Guarantee

We have designed the Current Account Switch Service to let you switch your current account from one bank or building society to another in a simple, reliable and stress-free way. It will only take seven working days. As your new current account provider we offer the following guarantee:

The service is free to use and you can choose and agree your switch date with us
We will take care of moving all your payments going out (for example, your direct debits and standing orders) and those coming in (for example, your salary)
If you have money in your old account, we will transfer it to your new account on your switch date
We will arrange for payments accidentally made to your old account to be automatically redirected to your new account. We will also contact the sender and give them your new account details
If there are any issues in making the switch, we will contact you before your switch date
If anything goes wrong with the switch, as soon as we are told, we will refund any interest (paid or lost) and charges made on either your old or new current accounts as a result of this failure.

Please note: The Current Account Switch Guarantee does not apply if you are only partially switching your account to us. For more details please see ‘Who can apply?’ and ‘How does it work?’ below.

You can check if your old bank or building society is signed up on the Current Account Switch Service website.

New business customers

New business customers can request to switch their old account when applying for a new business current account with us. Simply choose the business current account you want to apply for and request to switch when completing your application.

Who can apply?

Depending on your circumstances, you can apply to make a full or partial switch:

Full switch

The full switch is available for small businesses, charities and trusts with less than 50 employees and an annual turnover of less than £6.5m. The full switch is backed by the Current Account Switch Guarantee.

Partial switch

You can apply for a partial switch if you don’t qualify for a full switch, if you'd prefer not to transfer all your payments over, or if you don’t want to close your old account. The partial switch is not backed by the Current Account Switch Guarantee.

How does it work?

Find out more about what’s involved in a full or partial switch:

Full switch

If you’re making a full switch, under the Current Account Switch Guarantee, we will:

transfer any money in your old business bank account to your new one within seven business days or on your preferred switch date
transfer all your regular incoming and outgoing payments (including any direct debits, standing orders, bills, benefits and your salary, as well as payee details) to your new account
close your old account
redirect any payments sent to your old account to your new one for at least three years
contact you before your switch date if there are any issues with making the switch
refund any interest or charges you incur on your old or new account as a result of a delay caused by us.

Overdrafts

If you require an overdraft as part of your switch, you will need to have this in place before you proceed with your switch, as approval for the overdraft is based on a credit check and assessment of your business circumstances.

If your account is overdrawn

You can still switch your account if you’re overdrawn. You will need to pay off any overdrawn balance, including any fees or charges on your old account. You can do this by using available funds, or if you have applied and been accepted, an overdraft with ourselves. Debit balances are not transferred.

Partial switch

If you’re making a partial switch, we will:

ask your old bank for a list of outgoing payments for the account you’re partially switching from
ask you which outgoing payments you’d like to move to your new account with us
leave your old account open
leave your credit balance in your old account.

Please note:

the partial switch is not covered by the Current Account Switch Guarantee
we won’t be able to switch any one-off, future-dated payments
you’ll need to arrange for any incoming payments such as your salary to be transferred to your new account
the partial switch could take longer than seven business days, if you choose a switch date further in advance

Switching Third Party Providers (TPP)

We allow you to give TPPs (such as financial comparison websites, money management apps and payment services) the ability to make payments on your behalf, and to access your financial data.

Any authorisations to TPP services, including any payments you've set up through them, won't be automatically transferred by the Current Account Switch Service when you switch your account to us.

However, if you would like to continue using TTP authorisations from your new account, there are a couple of simple steps you can take:

1. Before applying to switch to us, make a note of any TPP authorisations you have set up and the details of who they are with.
2. Once your new account is open, you can re-authorise these TPP services to access your new account by contacting them directly.

Please note: We only allow access to TPPs that are authorised by law to provide their services, so there's a chance that your current TPP may not be supported to access Co-operative Bank accounts. Our terms and conditions provide more information about TPPs.

Confirmation of Payee

Please note the information below about receiving new and existing payments following the introduction of Confirmation of Payee.

Receiving new payments: After your account has switched, people may be prevented from using your old details to set up a new payment to you. They will need to use your new Co-operative Bank account number and sort code.

This means that you’ll need to share your new account details with anyone who is intending to set up a new payment after your old account has been closed.

Receiving existing payments: Anyone who already has payments set up to your old account can continue to use your old account details. The funds will be transferred to your new Co-operative Bank account as part of the switching process.