Our overdrafts
An overdraft is a facility on your current account designed for short term borrowing. If you need to borrow on a longer or ongoing basis, you may wish to consider other borrowing options.
When your balance goes below £0, you enter into an overdraft. You can request an arranged overdraft or your account may enter into an unarranged overdraft when we allow a payment, or take an amount from your account, despite a lack of funds.
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£20 buffer
The first £20 of an unarranged overdraft is a buffer zone and means you don’t have to pay any overdraft charges, provided you do not exceed the £20 buffer. You will still need to pay debit interest on the full amount you are overdrawn. -
Annual waiver
If you go over your £20 buffer, you’ll have 6 business days to bring your balance back within your arranged overdraft limit or into credit to avoid charges. You’ll still need to pay debit interest on the full amount you are overdrawn. This waiver is available once a year. -
£60 Overdraft charges cap
We will not charge you more than £60 for any type of overdraft charge (including debit interest) in one charging period.
To apply for an overdraft or increase your limit, you need to be:
- Aged 18 years or over
- A UK resident
- Employed*, self-employed, retired or medically retired
- Overdrafts are offered subject to status and are not available on Cashminder accounts.
*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:
- Pension income
- Rental income
- Disability benefits (Disability Living Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Personal Independence Payment)
- Child maintenance
- Working tax credits (Or Universal Credit equivalent)
- Child tax credits (Or Universal Credit equivalent)
- Carer's allowance
- Statutory maternity / paternity / shared parental pay
- Employer paid maternity or paternity allowance
Ready to apply?
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 calling 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 are two kinds of overdraft: arranged and unarranged.
Arranged overdrafts
This is a set amount you can borrow, that you’ve agreed with us in advance. There are no charges for arranging an overdraft, but you do pay debit interest on the amount you go overdrawn by.
If you decide that an overdraft is the best option for you, an arranged overdraft is generally less expensive than an overdraft that is not agreed in advance (an unarranged overdraft).
- When you are using your overdraft, you must make regular payments into your account to reduce the amount that you owe. Therefore, when considering what overdraft limit you’d like to apply for, you should think carefully about how you will be able to repay.
- You may request a change to your overdraft limit at any time.
- Any overdraft limit that we offer you will be based on your personal financial circumstances and may be lower than the amount you ask for.
- The level of debit interest applicable will depend on the amount that you borrow and the type of account that you hold. Please refer to your account charges leaflet for further information.
Unarranged overdrafts
This is an overdraft that you have not agreed in advance. It takes place when we allow a payment, or take an amount from your account, despite a lack of funds.
If we allow an unarranged overdraft on your account, we’ll charge you an unarranged service charge of £10 per month and a daily unarranged overdraft charge of £10 for each day that your unarranged overdraft increases.
We operate on monthly charging periods. Unless we tell you otherwise on your statement, the charging period used for interest, commission and charges is the fifth day of the first month to the fourth day of the next month.
- Please note that we may not always allow you to have an unarranged overdraft and we may instead refuse a payment due to a lack of funds.
- You will be required to pay debit interest on the amount that you borrow. Please refer to your account charges leaflet for further information.
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Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of everything you’ve spent each month. There may be the odd time that you accidentally go overdrawn or over your overdraft limit. We have 3 ways of limiting these charges:
£20 Buffer
- The first £20 of an unarranged overdraft is a buffer zone and means you don’t have to pay any overdraft charges, provided you do not exceed the £20 buffer.
- You will still need to pay debit interest on the full amount you are overdrawn.
Annual Waiver
- If you go over your £20 buffer, you’ll have 6 business days to bring your balance back inside your arranged overdraft limit to avoid charges. Or, if you don’t have an arranged overdraft limit, bring your balance back into credit.
- You’ll still need to pay debit interest on the full amount you are overdrawn.
- This waiver is available once a year. So if you use your annual waiver on 28 September 2018, you can’t use it again until 28 September 2019.
£60 overdraft charges cap
- 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.
- The monthly cap on unarranged overdraft charges for your current account is £60.
- 1. Each current account will set a monthly maximum charge for: (a) going overdrawn when you have not arranged an overdraft; or (b) going over/past your arranged overdraft limit (if you have one).
- 2. This cap covers any: (a) interest and fees for going over/past your arranged overdraft limit; (b) fees for each payment your bank allows despite lack of funds; and (c) fees for each payment your bank refuses due to lack of funds.
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- (i)This is a standard definition to allow you to compare unarranged overdraft charges across different providers, but in practice we don't actually charge fees for refusing payments.
- (ii)The monthly cap refers to the charges applied in a charging period not a calendar month.
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- To help you manage your money and avoid/reduce any charges you may incur, we will now send you overdraft text alerts to notify you either before you go into or when you have entered into an unarranged overdraft. We will also send an alert when you don’t have enough funds in your account to make all of your scheduled payments that day.
- You will need to have your mobile phone number registered against your account in order to receive these.
- An unarranged overdraft will result in you incurring charges and/or paying interest.
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Should you be experiencing financial difficulties and be unable to keep up with bill payments or your income falls, we would recommend that you contact us as early as possible.
- We will be happy to discuss your needs and to help you understand what options might be available to you.
You can call us on:
+44(0)344 844 8899Lines 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
Important documents
Charging scenarios
Download Charging scenarios PDF (441KB)Account charges current accounts
Download Account charges current accounts PDF (87KB)Our lending commitments and what we ask of you
Download Our lending commitments and what we ask of you PDF (113KB)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).
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Your eligible deposits with 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 click here for further information or visit www.fscs.org.ukImportant information about our call charges
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.
EAR (Equivalent Annual Rate)
This is the interest on the money you borrow, equivalent to if you borrowed the money for a whole year.Variable
When a rate is advertised as variable, it means that it could go up or down.Contact us
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