Cooperative banking

Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world.

Cooperative banking, as discussed here, includes retail banking carried out by credit unions, mutual savings banks, building societies and cooperatives, as well as commercial banking services provided by mutual organizations (such as cooperative federations) to cooperative businesses.

Institutions

Credit unions

Credit unions have the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at reasonable rates, and providing other financial services to its members. Its members are usually required to share a common bond, such as locality, employer, religion or profession, and credit unions are usually funded entirely by member deposits, and avoid outside borrowing. They are typically (though not exclusively) the smaller form of cooperative banking institution. In some countries they are restricted to providing only unsecured personal loans, whereas in others, they can provide business loans to farmers, and mortgages.

The Co-operative Bank

The Co-operative Bank plc is a retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom, with its headquarters in Balloon Street, Manchester.

The bank markets itself as an ethical bank, and seeks to avoid investing in companies involved in certain elements of the arms trade, fossil fuel extraction, genetic engineering, animal testing and use of sweated labour as stated in its ethical policy. The ethical policy was introduced in 1992 and incorporated into the Bank's constitution in 2013. In 2002, the parent company Co-operative Group Limited brought the bank and the Co-operative Insurance Society under the control of a newly incorporated holding society, Co-operative Financial Services, which became the Co-operative Banking Group in 2011.

As Britain's seventh biggest lender, the majority of the bank's revenue is made from interest charges on loans.

In 2013-14 the bank was the subject of a rescue plan to address a capital shortfall of about £1.9 billion. The bank mostly raised equity to cover the shortfall from hedge funds, while the Co-operative Group became a minority shareholder holding a 20% stake in the bank.

Co-operative Bank

Co-operative Bank or Cooperative Bank may refer to:

See also