Co-operative Bank plc Credit Rating
Co-operative Bank plc holds a blended long-term credit rating of A — the "High Grade" band, which is investment grade, with a stable outlook. That figure combines the latest long-term issuer ratings from Moody's, Fitch onto a single comparable scale, and indicates a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. Co-operative Bank plc is owned by Private equity consortium. A credit rating measures an institution's ability to meet its financial obligations — it is an opinion, not a guarantee, and it is separate from deposit protection.
Co-operative Bank credit ratings by agency
| Agency | Long-term rating | Outlook | Last confirmed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitch Ratings | A+ | — | 14 Jul 2026 |
| Moody's | A3 | Stable | 10 Jul 2026 |
Rating History Chart
Rating History
| Date | Rating | Agencies |
|---|---|---|
14 Jul 2026 |
Moody's, Fitch | |
10 Jul 2026 |
Moody's, Fitch | |
15 Jun 2019 |
Fitch | |
15 Sep 2017 |
Fitch | |
15 Jan 2016 |
Fitch |
Service record: complaints, incidents and customer survey
Complaints: in the FCA's 2025 H1 file (January 2025 to June 2025), Co-operative Bank received 9,034 banking and credit-card complaints, 2.62 per 1,000 accounts. The bank upheld 68% of those it closed and closed 72% within three days. The previous period was 3.00 per 1,000, so complaints fell. Compare all banks.
Outages and incidents: Co-operative Bank reported
2 major operational or security incidents to the FCA in the quarter to 30 June 2026 and 5 in the 12 months to 30 June 2026 (mobile app 4, online banking 5, telephone 0)
Customer survey (CMA / Ipsos, August 2026): share of Co-operative Bank's own customers who would recommend it.
| Measure | Market | Would recommend | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Branch services | Great Britain | 63% | 7= of 13 |
| Online and mobile banking | Great Britain | 60% | 16= of 17 |
| Overall service quality | Great Britain | 55% | 13= of 17 |
| Overdraft services | Great Britain | 56% | 14= of 16 |
| Branch and business centre services (business) | Great Britain | 53% | 4= of 12 |
| Online and mobile banking (business) | Great Britain | 49% | 17 of 17 |
| Overall service quality (business) | Great Britain | 56% | 13= of 17 |
| Relationship and account management (business) | Great Britain | 61% | 8 of 17 |
Latest News
Is the Co-operative Bank safe? What the record shows
The agency ratings above are opinions. What follows is the verifiable record behind them: each statement is taken from the source named beneath it, last checked 15 October 2026. It is information, not advice.
Banking licence
The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. (FCA firm reference 121885, company number 990937, registered in Manchester) is a PRA-authorised bank on the Bank of England's October 2026 list of UK banks. smile is a trading name of the same company. It has no connection with the Co-operative Group beyond its name: the Group's stake fell to about 1% in the 2017 rescue.
Source: Bank of England: which firms does the PRA regulate, 1 Oct 2026Ownership and funding
Coventry Building Society acquired the entire share capital of The Co-operative Bank Holdings on 1 January 2025 for a cash consideration of £780 million, of which up to £125 million was deferred for three years subject to performance (booked at £745 million). The bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Society, which is a member-owned mutual. Between 2013 and 2024 it was owned by US hedge funds, which took control after a £1.5 billion capital shortfall was found in 2013 and put in a further £700 million rescue in 2017.
Source: Joint statement: completion of the acquisition of The Co-operative Bank Holdings by Coventry Building Society, 1 Jan 2025Coventry plans to transfer the bank's assets and liabilities into the Society under a Part VII banking business transfer and bring eligible customers into membership. A court hearing to approve the transfer is listed for 2 December 2026 and, if approved, the transfer is expected to take effect on 1 January 2027, after which the bank would no longer be a separately licensed institution.
Source: The Co-operative Bank: Coventry Building Society transfer, 15 Oct 2026Size
At 31 December 2025 the bank had £20.8 billion of customer deposits (up 4.4% in the year), £20.3 billion of loans to customers and total assets of £25.0 billion. Its last published customer count was about 2.4 million retail customers and around 96,000 small businesses (March 2025). Within the Coventry group at 30 June 2026 the bank sub-group had total assets of £23.6 billion.
Source: The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 (Companies House), 31 Dec 2025Profitability
The bank made a statutory profit before tax of £53.3 million in 2025 (underlying £101.1 million, after £47.8 million of one-off acquisition and integration costs), £72.9 million in 2024 and £71.4 million in 2023 (after £29.3 million of remediation and redress costs that year). For the half year to 30 June 2026 the bank sub-group reported a profit before tax of £53 million, up from £25 million a year earlier.
Source: The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 (Companies House), 31 Dec 2025Capital strength
At 30 June 2026 The Co-operative Bank p.l.c.'s Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 19.3% (31 December 2025: 18.9%), its total capital ratio 23.3% and its leverage ratio 4.6%, on £968 million of CET1 capital and £5.0 billion of risk-weighted assets. Its owner Coventry Building Society reported a group CET1 ratio of 19.6% at the same date.
Source: The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. Pillar 3 disclosures, June 2026, 30 Jun 2026Regulatory record since 2020
No FCA or PRA fine or enforcement notice against The Co-operative Bank dated after 1 January 2020 was found. The FCA's public censure (August 2015) and the PRA's public censure (February 2016) over the bank's 2009 to 2013 failings predate that period. In August 2023 the Competition and Markets Authority recorded that the bank had failed to keep service-quality information on its website up to date for seven weeks in 2022 and reported it late; no penalty was imposed.
Source: CMA: action against The Co-operative Bank for breaching the Retail Banking Order, 15 Aug 2023Credit ratings
Moody's rates The Co-operative Bank's long-term deposits A3 with a stable outlook, having upgraded them from Baa3 on 18 December 2024 when regulators approved the Coventry acquisition; the bank's standalone baseline credit assessment is baa1, which benefits from assumed support from Coventry. Fitch upgraded the bank from BB+ to BBB+ in January 2025, withdrew its ratings in March 2025 for commercial reasons, then assigned a new A+ long-term issuer default rating with a stable outlook in July 2026, in line with Coventry's; the bank's investor relations page still showed Fitch A+ stable (dated July 2026) and Moody's A3 stable (dated December 2025) on 15 October 2026. S&P does not rate the bank.
Source: The Co-operative Bank investor relations: credit ratings, 15 Oct 2026Deposit protection
Eligible deposits with The Co-operative Bank p.l.c., including smile accounts, are added together and protected by the FSCS up to £120,000 per depositor. Until the planned transfer, the bank and Coventry Building Society operate under separate licences, so a customer can have £120,000 protected with each. After the transfer a single £120,000 limit would apply to combined deposits with the bank, smile and the Society; the bank has said customers with both will get a three-month penalty-free window to move money once the court approves the transfer.
Source: The Co-operative Bank: customer letter on the Coventry Building Society transfer, 24 Aug 2026Operational incidents
In July 2020 smile's online and mobile banking were unavailable for several days, affecting around 40,000 daily users, with access restored on 11 July. A mobile app login fault was fixed late on 2 April 2023. On 21 and 22 September 2026, after planned weekend work on its digital systems, business online banking was unavailable for most of a day and payments could not be sent, according to a business customer's account and the bank's own service-status page. No data breach since 2020 was found.
Source: Which?: smile digital banking outage, 13 Jul 2020Frequently asked questions about Co-operative Bank plc
Is Co-operative Bank plc safe?
Co-operative Bank plc currently holds a blended long-term credit rating of A, which is investment grade and indicates a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. A credit rating is an independent opinion on an institution's ability to meet its financial obligations; it is not a guarantee and can change. Separately, Eligible deposits with UK-authorised banks and building societies are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £120,000 per eligible person, per banking licence (the limit rose from £85,000 on 1 December 2025). Where several brands share a single banking licence, that £120,000 limit is shared across those brands rather than applying to each one separately. This page is information about published credit ratings, not financial advice.
What is Co-operative Bank plc's credit rating?
Co-operative Bank plc has a blended long-term credit rating of A, with a stable outlook. This blends the most recent long-term issuer ratings from Moody's, Fitch, mapped onto a common scale so ratings expressed in different agencies' notation can be compared directly.
Is Co-operative Bank plc covered by the FSCS?
Eligible deposits with UK-authorised banks and building societies are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £120,000 per eligible person, per banking licence (the limit rose from £85,000 on 1 December 2025). Where several brands share a single banking licence, that £120,000 limit is shared across those brands rather than applying to each one separately. Co-operative Bank plc is recorded with FCA reference 121885. Because protection follows the banking licence rather than the brand, check the current position and which brands share a licence on the FSCS website before relying on it.
Who owns Co-operative Bank plc?
Co-operative Bank plc is owned by Private equity consortium. Ownership matters for credit ratings because agencies often factor in the likelihood of support from a parent group, and because brands under the same banking licence share a single FSCS limit.
What does a A credit rating mean?
A sits in the "High Grade" band, indicating a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments. Ratings of BBB- (or Baa3 on Moody's scale) and above are considered investment grade; anything below that is regarded as speculative, sometimes called "high yield". Ratings are reviewed periodically and can be upgraded or downgraded.
What is Co-operative Bank plc's Fitch rating?
Fitch rates Co-operative Bank plc A+ (long-term), as read from the bank's own published disclosures and last confirmed on 14 July 2026. Together with the other agencies' ratings this gives the blended A shown on this page.
What is Co-operative Bank plc's Moody's rating?
Moody's rates Co-operative Bank plc A3 (long-term) with a stable outlook, as read from the bank's own published disclosures and last confirmed on 10 July 2026. Together with the other agencies' ratings this gives the blended A shown on this page.
When did Co-operative Bank plc's credit rating last change?
Co-operative Bank plc's blended rating has stood at A since 14 July 2026, the most recent change in our records. Ratings are re-checked automatically and this page updates when an agency revises its assessment.
Is the Co-operative Bank a real bank?
The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. (FCA firm reference 121885, company number 990937, registered in Manchester) is a PRA-authorised bank on the Bank of England's October 2026 list of UK banks. smile is a trading name of the same company. It has no connection with the Co-operative Group beyond its name: the Group's stake fell to about 1% in the 2017 rescue.
Is the Co-operative Bank profitable?
The bank made a statutory profit before tax of £53.3 million in 2025 (underlying £101.1 million, after £47.8 million of one-off acquisition and integration costs), £72.9 million in 2024 and £71.4 million in 2023 (after £29.3 million of remediation and redress costs that year). For the half year to 30 June 2026 the bank sub-group reported a profit before tax of £53 million, up from £25 million a year earlier.
Has the Co-operative Bank been fined by the FCA?
No FCA or PRA fine or enforcement notice against The Co-operative Bank dated after 1 January 2020 was found. The FCA's public censure (August 2015) and the PRA's public censure (February 2016) over the bank's 2009 to 2013 failings predate that period. In August 2023 the Competition and Markets Authority recorded that the bank had failed to keep service-quality information on its website up to date for seven weeks in 2022 and reported it late; no penalty was imposed.
Who owns the Co-operative Bank?
Coventry Building Society acquired the entire share capital of The Co-operative Bank Holdings on 1 January 2025 for a cash consideration of £780 million, of which up to £125 million was deferred for three years subject to performance (booked at £745 million). The bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Society, which is a member-owned mutual. Between 2013 and 2024 it was owned by US hedge funds, which took control after a £1.5 billion capital shortfall was found in 2013 and put in a further £700 million rescue in 2017.