Student bank account
We've had a customer-led Ethical Policy for over 25 years and we put our customers at the heart of everything we do. That's why we designed our Student Account to help you get the most out of student life and you can apply as soon as you have your confirmed place on a full time course.
What you'll get
- An account with the original ethical bank, supporting Manchester Pride for the last 5 years and committed to zero waste to landfill by the end of 2020.
- An interest-free overdraft that you can request to increase each year, starting from £1,400. Please read our overdraft information before you apply.
- 1 year after you graduate to pay off your overdraft, without any interest.
- Online banking and mobile app to manage your money and get paperless statements.
How our student account works
When you can apply
You can apply as soon as you are 18 and you have a confirmed place on a full time course. We accept students with a place on any of the following:
- Undergraduate degree
- Postgraduate degree
- National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) (level 4 & 5 only)
- BTEC course - Higher National Diploma
- Foundation degree
We do not accept Open University courses or apprenticeships
You can only have one student account at one time. If you have a student account with another bank, you will need to switch to us. You can do this by calling us on 03457 212 212 or visiting us in a branch, once your account is open.
More about switching your account
Funding your account
You must pay your student loan or other funding into your student account. If you don’t, we might convert your account to a standard current account and you could lose your student overdraft.
Student account overdraft
Your student account has an interest-free overdraft that can be increased each year you’re studying:
- £1,400 in your 1st year
- Up to £1,700 in your 2nd year
- Up to £2,000 in your 3rd year and any further years of study
There is no monthly fee. You'll only be charged debit interest if you go over your agreed interest-free overdraft limit.
Increase your overdraft limit
You will need to contact us to request an increase to your overdraft limit. Your overdraft limit will not automatically increase in your 2nd, 3rd, or further years of study. Approval will depend on an assessment of account conduct and a review of regular funding. You'll be charged debit interest if you go into an unarranged overdraft.
Activate the overdraft
You will need to pay in at least £300 within 28 days after your account has been opened to activate it. The funds must remain in your account for 48 hours, after which your overdraft will be applied automatically. For further details please read below for the eligibility criteria you must meet in order for your student overdraft to be made available to you.
What happens after you graduate
Your overdraft will remain interest free for one year after you graduate. There will be no monthly account fee. We will treat the end of your final year as the end date that you submitted as part of your application.
One year after you graduate, your account will convert automatically to our standard Current Account. We'll send you a letter to remind you about this 1 month before it happens.
Your overdraft limit will not automatically transfer to your new account. This means you will need to repay your overdraft within the first year after graduating to avoid incurring debit interest.
If you want to keep your arranged overdraft, you can call us or visit a branch to apply. Approval is based on a credit check, an assessment of your personal circumstances and is subject to status. You'll be charged debit interest on your overdrawn balance.
If your circumstances or course end date changes
You’ll need to let us know if your end date changes. Call us on 03457 212 212 and we will make the changes to your account. You may need to provide evidence confirming your end date.
Why choose The Co-operative Bank?
Here at The Co-operative Bank, we like to do things differently. We are the only UK bank with a customer-led Ethical Policy that guides the way we do business.
How we do things differently
Together with our customers and colleagues we’ve raised £1.4m for Centrepoint to help them continue to provide vulnerable 16 – 25 year olds with safe accommodation, access to learning and physical and mental health support.
We believe in doing what we can to protect the environment, that’s why we’re committing to becoming zero waste to landfill by the end of 2020. You can help too, by updating your email address either online or by giving us a call, we can keep you informed without the unnecessary paper waste.
We know we all have an important part to play when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Our values drive us towards making society better for everyone, regardless of sexuality, race or gender, which is why we have proudly been a part of Manchester Pride for the last 5 years.
To apply for our student bank account, you need to:
- be aged 18 or over
- be a UK resident
- be on a full-time course with at least 2 years as undergraduate or post-graduate, including mature and existing students
- have proof of your confirmed place, like a UCAS AS12 letters or a headed confirmation letter from your college or university which states your start and end date.
If you only have a conditional offer, wait until your place has been confirmed (after your exam results) to apply.
Approval is based on a credit check, an assessment of your personal circumstances and is subject to status.
Eligibility for your student overdraft - what you'll need to do so your overdraft is available to you
If you've been accepted for a student account, that also means we've approved you for the overdraft limit that's applicable to your year of study. We approve student overdrafts with the expectation that your student loan or other funding will be paid into your student account, so your overdraft won’t be available to you right away. If you want your overdraft to be made available to you, at least £300 needs to be paid into your student account within 28 days of the date that your account was opened. This amount needs to remain in your account for 48 hours, after which your overdraft will be made available to you automatically. If you want your overdraft to be made available to you and it's more than 28 days after the date your account was opened, you'll need to call us.
Apply
You need to provide a proof of ID, proof of address and proof of your confirmed course with your application. Your application will be delayed if these documents are not correct
Proof of address and identification you can use for your application
Everyone applying for a student account should read how our overdrafts work.
Once you have completed your application form and signed it, send it with the requested proofs to:
The Co-operative Bank plc
PO Box 638
Salford
M5 0JQ
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.
Please read the important documents below, and save copies of them for future reference.
When you'll hear back
We aim to reply to you within 7 working days of receiving your application form. If successful, we'll send out your welcome pack and debit card. We will send your PIN number separately.
Instructions for completing the student account application using a mobile device
- For Android users, please download ‘Adobe Acrobat Reader: PDF Viewer, Editor and Creator’ from the Play Store.
- For Apple users, please click and hold the link to the PDF, then select ‘Download linked file’. Once downloaded, click the download icon at the top of the page (it’s a blue circle with a down arrow). You will now be able to complete the PDF.
- If you are using Chrome please save the form in a PDF format to ensure that you do not lose any changes.
Once you have completed the application form, please then print, sign and send it to us.
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Overdrafts are intended for short term borrowing and not suitable for long term borrowing.
An arranged overdraft is a set amount you've agreed with us in advance. You'll only be charged debit interest if you go over your arranged interest-free overdraft limit.
If you haven't arranged an overdraft
You'll go into an unarranged overdraft if you go over your arranged limit or your account balance falls below £0 without an arranged overdraft in place. You will be charged debit interest for going into an unarranged overdraft.
Your payments might be refused if you try to go overdrawn without having arranged an overdraft.
How overdrafts affect your credit reference file
Any type of borrowing shows on your credit file. However, an unarranged overdraft shows as arrears which can negatively impact your credit file and may make it harder for you to obtain credit in the future.
Am I eligible for an overdraft?
If you are accepted for the Student Account, you’ll be eligible for its overdraft.
Charges
You'll only be charged debit interest if you go over your agreed interest-free overdraft limit.
To find out more about the cost of using an unarranged overdraft, we have an overdraft calculator that will tell how much this will cost in pounds and pence.
More information on account charges
How you can manage your overdraft
Change your overdraft limit
Your student account has an interest-free overdraft that can be increased each year you’re studying:
- £1,400 in your 1st year
- Up to £1,700 in your 2nd year
- Up to £2,000 in your 3rd year and any further years of study
You will need to contact us to request an increase to your overdraft limit. Your overdraft limit will not automatically increase in your 2nd, 3rd, or further years of study. Approval will depend on an assessment of account conduct and a review of regular funding.
You cannot request an increase to your arranged overdraft above the interest-free overdraft limit applicable to your year of study. You must make regular payments into your account to reduce the amount you owe.
If you already have an arranged overdraft limit with us, which you'd like to remove, you can do this by contacting us.
Text alerts when you go into your overdraft
To help manage your money and avoid/minimise debit interest you might pay, we send overdraft text alerts if you go into or you're about to go into an arranged or unarranged overdraft. We will also send alerts if you have payments due that may not be paid.
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.
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Use online banking or our mobile app to view your accounts, pay people and transfer money to your other accounts.
Contacting us
You can get in touch over the phone by calling us on 03457 212 212, 8am to 8pm every day.
You can also visit us in one of our branches, located across the UK. We’re open Monday to Friday, with some branches also open on Saturday mornings.
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When you switch your account from you current bank or building society, we do all the hard work for you.
We make sure that:
- your Direct Debits, standing orders and bill payments are automatically transferred
- payments made to your old account are redirected to your new account for 3 years
If anything does go wrong, we guarantee to sort it out for you and cover any losses you might incur. This is covered in the Current Account Switch Guarantee.
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Representative example
£1400 credit limit
0% annual interest rate
0% representative APR variable
How does our overdraft compare?
The representative APR provided can enable you to compare the costs across different products and providers.
Based on the representative example above, if you didn't pay it back for
1 month
you would owe a total of
£1400
There are other charges, including:
- foreign transaction services, such as using your debit card abroad.
- electronic payments, such as CHAPS.
- other services, such as copies of your statement.
Important documents
Please read the Important Documents below and save copies of them for future reference.
Account charges
Download Account charges PDF (87KB)Terms & conditions
Download Terms & conditions PDF (202KB)Our lending commitments and what we ask of you
Download Our lending commitments and what we ask of you PDF (112KB)How we use your personal information
Download How we use your personal information PDF (622KB)Student overdraft pre contractual information
Download Student overdraft pre contractual information PDF (902KB)Fee Information Document
Download Fee Information Document PDF (132KB)How our overdrafts work
Download How our overdrafts work PDF 436KBGlossary
Download Glossary PDF (129KB)Financial Services Compensation Scheme Information Sheet and Exclusion List
Download Financial Services Compensation Scheme Information Sheet and Exclusion List PDF 60KBHelp for existing customers
Help and information about current accounts, for our existing customers.
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.ukUnarranged overdrafts
You'll go into an unarranged overdraft if you go over your agreed limit or your account balance falls below £0 without an arranged overdraft in place. You will be charged debit interest for going into an unarranged overdraft.
Your payments might be refused if you try to go over your overdraft limit or try to go overdrawn without having arranged an overdraft. If we do allow the payment(s) this will mean you've entered into an unarranged overdraft and you will be charged debit interest.
APR (Annual Percentage Rate)
APR is the interest rate calculated across the lifetime of your agreement, including any fees (total cost of credit). You can use it to compare the cost of similar products from other lenders.Contact us
If you'd like more help & information, you can:
