The Co-operative Bank International Payments Review 2026: Fees, Exchange Rates and Is It Good for Sending Money Abroad?

The fixed fee is the small part

We checked where the charges fall. A euro payment sent online costs nothing, and a SWIFT payment in another currency is charged at 0.25% of the value, roughly £13 to £35, so the headline fee looks modest.

One detail is easy to miss, and it is the same-day option. We checked the Co-operative Bank's own international payment tariff and found that pushing a euro payment through on a same-day (TARGET2) basis costs £25, on top of any postage, transmission and agent charges that apply (Co-operative Bank international payment charges, last checked 2 July 2026). Receiving an international payment above £100 adds about £6 on top.

Changing your mind costs too. On that same tariff we found a £20 charge for amending, cancelling or querying a payment once it has left, again before any postage, transmission and agent fees — a small-print cost worth knowing before you confirm.

The real cost is the exchange rate

This is where a bank quietly earns its money. The Co-operative Bank does not give the mid-market rate; it builds a margin into the rate, and on our euro example that margin worked out at roughly 4%.

We put that in context. A 4% markup is steep even by high-street standards, and it dwarfs the fixed fee, so the rate is the number that decides how much your transfer really costs.

You can see the rate, but it is a poor one

Credit where it is due. The bank shows the exchange rate before you confirm, so you are not sent blind on the conversion.

The catch is the level, not the visibility. The rate you see sits well below the interbank rate a specialist would pass on, which is exactly the gap this review measures.

We model sending £10,000 to euros, a realistic size where the FX margin really bites. On 30 June 2026 the pounds to euros market rate was about 1.1604, so £10,000 is worth roughly €11,604. Rates move daily, so figures are illustrative.

Read it like this. Even with no fixed fee on the euro route, the bank's margin means £10,000 lands as about €11,140, roughly €417 behind what the same amount buys through a market-rate app such as Wise.

We find the pattern holds at every size. The bank is safe and principled, but it is an expensive way to move money abroad, and the gap grows the more you send.

How sending works

The bank sends money straight to a recipient's overseas bank account by SWIFT, or by SEPA for euro payments. You set it up in online banking, the mobile app or a branch, entering the recipient's IBAN and BIC.

It is bank-to-bank only. No cash pickup and no mobile-wallet payout, so the recipient needs a bank account, and most payments arrive within one to four working days, with euro transfers usually quicker.

Where it fits

For an existing customer a payment now and then is convenient. The money leaves the account you already hold, with familiar security and support, which suits people who value that over shaving cost.

For regular or cost-sensitive transfers, an app wins. A low-cost specialist handles overseas payments far more cheaply. Start with our money transfer reviews.

Your deposits are covered

Here is the genuine upside of using a bank. As a UK deposit-taker, the Co-operative Bank is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which protects eligible deposits up to £120,000 per person if the bank were to fail. That limit rose from £85,000 on 1 December 2025.

We stress the distinction. The money-transfer specialists safeguard your funds by ring-fencing them, but that is not the same as FSCS deposit protection, so a bank balance carries a layer of cover a transfer app cannot match.

But protection is not the same as value

The cover applies to money at rest. For cash sitting in your account it is real reassurance, and it is a fair reason to bank with the Co-operative Bank.

It does not make transfers cheap, though. FSCS protection does nothing to narrow the FX margin, so a safe home for your savings and a cheap way to send them abroad are two separate questions.

Who runs it

We read the FCA Register. The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. is authorised under firm reference number 121885, authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by both the PRA and the FCA as a deposit-taking bank.

Its ownership has settled. After a near-collapse in 2013 and years under hedge-fund owners, Coventry Building Society completed its takeover in early 2025, returning the bank to mutual, member-owned hands.

How your money is protected

The protection here is the strong part. Eligible deposits are covered by the FSCS up to £120,000 per person, and complaints can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, both standard for a UK bank.

Fraud rules apply industry-wide now. Since October 2024 banks must reimburse most authorised-push-payment scam victims, and Confirmation of Payee checks a new payee's name before you send.

The ethical policy

We note the thing that sets this bank apart. Since 1992 the Co-operative Bank has run a customer-led ethical policy, refusing business with firms that clash with its stated values on the environment and human rights.

The policy survived the takeover. It is a fair reason to choose the bank on principle, though it does nothing to lower the cost of an overseas transfer, which is the job this review measures.

The reviews worth weighing

We looked at the customer view, and it reads well. On Trustpilot the Co-operative Bank scores about 4.5 out of 5 across roughly 18,500 reviews, a strong mark for a high-street bank.

The complaints have a theme. Reviewers praise the service and ethics but flag poor value on international payments and the rule that pushes large transfers off the app.

Getting started. International payments are open to current-account customers through online banking, the mobile app or a branch. You need the recipient's IBAN and BIC, plus their bank details.

Authorising it. Payments are confirmed with the app or your security details, and a new payee can trigger extra verification. Amounts above £10,000 cannot go through the app and need a phone call or branch visit. There is one upside to picking up the phone: we verified against the bank's own international payments guidance that on payments of £20,000 or more you can lock in the exchange rate in advance, which gives a large transfer some certainty over what finally lands (Co-operative Bank international payments, last checked 2 July 2026).

Support. The bank offers UK phone lines, branch counters and in-app help, the kind of human backup an app-only service does not match, though none of it lowers the transfer cost.

We rate the Co-operative Bank against the services people weigh it against. You can sense-check today's costs across providers with a live comparison of today's rates and fees.

For cost, a specialist wins clearly. Our Wise review covers a service at the mid-market rate with a low, clear fee, which beats a bank's margin on every overseas transfer we model.

Among banks the picture is closer. Our TSB Bank review shows a fellow FSCS-protected high-street bank with similar fee-plus-margin pricing, so the choice there rests on which bank you already use. If you are sending euros for a property abroad, weigh it on our send money to Spain page. Other mid-size banks price FX much the same, so our Barclays, Metro Bank, First Direct and Virgin Money reviews sit alongside it.

As a bank, the Co-operative Bank does the safety job well. Your deposits carry FSCS protection, the ethical policy is a genuine point of difference, and the payment stays inside the bank you already trust.

What holds it back is value. The FX margin near 4% makes overseas payments dear, there is no multi-currency account, and transfers above £10,000 cannot even go through the app.

We land it at 2.5 out of 5. The Co-operative Bank is a safe, principled place to keep money and a convenient one for the odd payment, but for sending money abroad cheaply a low-cost app is the better tool.