Co-op Bank kicks off agency review

The Co-operative Bank has launched a review of its CRM account – including online bank Smile – as the company attempts to arrest a major exodus of customers sparked by its 2013 meltdown.
The move follows the bank’s split from the Co-operative Group in the wake of the discovery of a £1.5bn black hole in group finances two nears ago.
The CRM account is currently handled by OgilvyOne, which also runs the Co-op Group business, although bank marketing director Alastair Pegg says that now the two are separate entities it provides “a natural juncture to review the brief”.
The Co-op refused to say whether other agencies currently shared by both organisations would be reviewed. Rapp also works on Co-op direct marketing business.
Whoever takes on the brief will face a tough challenge. The bank has already warned that it does not expect to be profitable until at least 2017 and customers are leaving in their droves: more than 38,000 current account holders closed their accounts in the first half of 2014 in the wake of the financial crisis.
With more banks coming to market and as switching becomes easier, analysts have said the Co-op Bank could find itself struggling to stem the exodus of customers.
However, its online banking operation Smile – launched a separate operation in 1999 – seems to have escaped the furore. According to surveys, it has the highest satisfaction ratings among UK banks.