An overdraft is a way to borrow money short-term with your current account and can be useful for covering unexpected costs or emergency spending. They can help you avoid or minimise fees for missing payments or make sure you aren’t cut off from services.
Overdrafts are not suitable for long-term borrowing. If you're using your overdraft in this way or becoming reliant on it, you may wish to look at other types of borrowing that might better meet your needs.
You can check if you have an existing overdraft on your account in online banking, the mobile app or on your statement. Overdrafts are not available on Cashminder accounts.
Calculate overdraft costs Check overdraft eligibility
The representative APR provided can enable you to compare the costs across different products and providers.
The APR includes the monthly fee of £11 for maintaining the account, and an interest free limit of £200. The representative APR provided can enable you to compare the costs across different products and providers.
The APR includes the monthly fee of £15.50 for maintaining the account, and an interest free limit of £300. The representative APR provided can enable you to compare the costs across different products and providers.
As an example, the interest cost of borrowing £500 is:
7 days
£2.98
30 days
£12.76
60 days
£25.66
This is based on borrowing £500 on the first day of our charging period and assumes this overdrawn balance remains until it is repaid at the end of 7, 30 or 60 days. This example does not include any interest-free amounts that are provided on some accounts.
You can use our calculator to work out how much your anticipated arranged overdraft borrowing would cost over different periods of time.
There are two kinds of overdraft: arranged and unarranged.
An arranged overdraft is a set amount you can borrow, that you’ve agreed with us in advance. We charge interest on your overdraft, using an interest rate we agree on, before you start using it.
If you go over your arranged overdraft limit, you’ll enter an unarranged overdraft. You’ll also enter an unarranged overdraft if your account balance falls below £0, before you’ve set up an arranged overdraft.
Your payments may be refused if you go over your overdraft limit or try to go overdrawn without an arranged overdraft in place.
When you use an arranged and/or unarranged overdraft, you will be charged debit interest at an annual interest rate of 35.9% on the amount you are overdrawn by, unless you have an account with an interest free overdraft. You can find more information about charges in our important documents here.
Any type of borrowing shows up on your credit file. However, an unarranged overdraft shows as arrears - this can negatively impact your credit file and may make it harder for you to obtain credit in the future.
We will not charge you more than £60 for any type of overdraft charge (including debit interest) in one charging period. This means that whatever type of overdraft you use (arranged or unarranged or both), the maximum you will pay per charging period will be £60.
To help you manage your money and limit any charges, we now send overdraft text alerts.
As long as we have your mobile number, you’ll be automatically opted in for overdraft text alerts. You can opt out of arranged and/or unarranged overdraft alerts at any time by contacting us.
We’ve created a tool to help you understand what debit interest you'll be charged when you use your overdraft.
If you haven't got an account with us already, you can check whether you would be eligible for an overdraft before applying. You can do this by using our overdraft eligibility tool.
If you’re experiencing financial difficulties and find that you are unable to keep up with bill payments, we recommend that you get in touch with us as early as possible.
We will be happy to discuss your needs and help you understand which options are available to you.
You can call us on:
+44(0)3457 212 212Lines open
8am - 8pm, 7 days a week
Important information about our call charges
Alternatively, visit us in branch
Use our branch locator to find your nearest branch
There is free, independent and impartial debt advice available if you are dealing with financial difficulties during the Coronavirus pandemic.
*You can still apply if you have never worked or ceased work due to an illness or disability, or if you are a full time carer. If you're in receipt of one of the following, you can continue to apply:
If you don't meet the eligibility criteria, please call us as there may be some help we can offer.
If you don't have a current account with us:
You can request an arranged overdraft when you're applying for a current account.
If you already have a current account with us:
You can request an overdraft or change your existing overdraft limit by filling out this editable form
Please save the form in a PDF format before completing to ensure you do not lose any changes.
We recommend completing this form using a desktop. However, if you are accessing the form from a mobile device you will need to follow these instructions.
Next steps:
Once completed, please email the form to the email address at the top of the form.
Please carefully check the email address before sending.
We can only accept online requests via a completed form
We will aim to respond within 7 days, although this may take longer due to the current climate.
We’ll let you know we’ve received your request and provide any updates by email.
If you’re experiencing financial difficulties and find that you are unable to keep up with bill payments, we recommend that you get in touch with us as early as possible.
Please make sure you read the overdraft pre-contractual information and other important documents that are relevant to your current account. You should save copies of these for future reference
Current Account (including Everyday Extra) Overdraft Pre-contract Information
Download Current Account (including Everyday Extra) Overdraft Pre-contract Information PDF (876KB)Privilege Account overdraft pre-contract information
Download Privilege Account overdraft pre-contract information PDF (876KB)Privilege Premier Account overdraft pre-contract information
Download Privilege Premier Account overdraft pre-contract information PDF (876KB)Current Account Plus Overdraft Pre-contract Information
Download Current Account Plus Overdraft Pre-contract Information PDF (876KB)Please read the important documents below and save copies for future reference.
Account charges
Download Account charges PDF (87KB)Our lending commitments and what we ask of you
Download Our lending commitments and what we ask of you PDF (113KB)How our overdrafts work
Download How our overdrafts work PDF (436KB)If you are using Chrome please save the form in a PDF format to ensure that you do not lose any changes.
It's important to consider other borrowing options depending on how much you want to borrow and how long for. We have other borrowing options that might better meet your needs. Whether or not these borrowing options are available to you will depend on your circumstances.
We have three different credit cards available to apply for online that may meet your borrowing needs.
We have teamed up with Freedom Finance to help you find the right loan with one quick application.
The Co-operative Bank reserves the right to decline any application.
Whether we can offer you credit depends on your circumstances and our lending policy. We may decline your application based on your circumstances or our lending policy. We may be able to offer a product that's different to the one advertised.
smile, The Co-operative Bank and Britannia are trading names of The Co-operative Bank plc, which is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
If you’re calling from the UK, calls to 0800 and 0808 numbers are free from landlines and mobiles; calls to 03 numbers cost the same as calls to numbers starting with 01 and 02; calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers cost 3p per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge; calls to 0844 and 0843 numbers cost 7p per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge. Charges for calls made outside of the UK will be determined by your local provider.
Calls may be monitored or recorded for security and training purposes.
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