Checking

Members can open an account from a phone, and most of the people who do are finished in under ten minutes.

What it is

A checking account with no minimum balance and no monthly maintenance fee. A debit card that arrives in the post within a week, or the same day if you would rather come to a branch and collect one.

You can deposit a cheque by photographing it, move money between accounts, freeze the card from the app if you have mislaid it, and unfreeze it when you find it in the other coat. None of that is remarkable in 2026. We list it because people ask, and because for a long time small institutions could not offer it.

Overdrafts, stated plainly

If you spend money you do not have, one of two things happens: the payment is declined, or we cover it and you owe us. Which one depends on a setting you choose when you open the account, and you can change it whenever you like.

We will tell you the fee before you agree to anything, in the branch or on the phone. What we will not do is set you up with the expensive option by default and let you find out later. That practice made a lot of money for a lot of institutions and it is the single thing we hear most often from people who have just left one.

Joining

If you live, work, worship or go to school in the counties we serve, you are eligible. So is anyone in your household once you join. A share deposit of a few dollars opens membership — that deposit is your stake in the co-operative, and you get it back if you ever leave.

What you should ask us

Whether moving is worth it. Sometimes it isn't. If you have a mortgage, three direct debits and a long relationship somewhere else, switching a checking account may cost you more disruption than it saves. Ask, and we will tell you honestly, including when the answer is no.