A standing order is a regular, fixed-amount payment from your account to another UK bank account.
When you set one up, you can decide how often you would like the recurring payment to come out of your account — it could be weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly. You can also choose whether you want the recurring payment to continue until a certain date, or if you’d rather it had no end date.
A standing order payment will reach the recipient on the due date, as long as it's a business day.
To set up a standing order you'll need to know the following:
A standing order reference is a unique code provided by the billing company that helps them to identify your payment. It's usually your account number or customer number, as provided by the company you are paying.
If your standing order is made to an individual like friends or family, your reference lets them know where the payment came from and would usually be your name.
Please note that certain payments will require a reference and if you don't provide one your payment might be returned. References can show on bank statements, so abusive or foul terms should not be used.
Whilst we work on some improvements, you are currently unable to add a reference when paying another Co-operative Bank or smile account. The sort code of the account you are paying will start with ‘08’ or ‘83’ if this applies. If you need to add a reference to your payment, call us on +44(0)3457 212 212 (call charges apply). Lines are open 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday.
The quickest way to set up a standing order is to log into online banking and complete the following 6 steps:
1. First, log in to online banking using your login details.
2. Then, select ‘Pay and transfer’ from the menu on the left.
3. Next, select the account you’d like the standing order to come from.
If you're not registered for online or mobile banking, you can contact us to set up a standing order.
You can change any of the following details on an existing standing order:
You can't change the recipient name on a standing order. If you need to change the recipient name you'll need to cancel the standing order and create a new one.
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