The Co-operative Bank

The Co–operative Bank provides personal banking services including current accounts, credit cards, loans, online and mobile banking. It is the only UK high street bank with a customer-led Ethical Policy incorporated into its Articles of Association.

With an ongoing commitment to the planet, people and communities that underpins everything The Co-operative Bank does, they want to build long-term customer satisfaction, engagement, and retention.

The Co-operative Bank are looking at green financing strategies to better support their customers to make their homes more energy efficient, reduce their environmental impact and benefit from reduced energy bills.

Market research shows that demand for ethical/green finance is increasing given the focus on carbon emissions and the environment. The Co-operative Bank want to support this demand by offering a service to customers who are thinking about home improvements to achieve energy efficiencies, advising on the measures and improvements available, suitability, implications and the costs and returns on ‘greener’ energy options for their homes.

Working with Energy Saving Trust, The Co-operative Bank have developed a customer self-service tool as a standalone microsite that is also integrated into their website to provide high-quality guidance and actionable recommendations.

The Energy Saving Home Improvement Tool

A bespoke version of the Home Energy Efficiency Tool was built to enable The Co-operative Bank to help their customers understand their energy use, reduce consumption and get practical advice for routes to improving the energy efficiency of their home.

The Energy Saving Home Improvement Tool assesses the impact of all energy saving combinations for a property, then outlines the best long-term cost, energy or carbon savings and home improvements for a customer’s individual budget, not based on averages but based on the actual characteristics of their own home.

“As the best ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) rated high street bank, we want to ensure we continue to meet the evolving needs of our customers. The Energy Saving Home Improvement Tool will enable the Bank to further support customers by providing education around energy efficiency, as well as finance support with improvement plans generated from the tool. We are delighted to be able to bring a new product to market or those wanting to take additional borrowing to help fund green improvements.” – Sam Collier, Delivery Lead, Strategy & Simplification, The Co-operative Bank

Launched in July 2022, the CO-OPERATIVE BANK TOOL is able to assess individual properties and allows customers to download or save a bespoke home energy improvement plan with details on the optimum solution to meet their finances.

“Overall, the Energy Saving Trust were collaborative, flexible and worked extremely hard to ensure that all of the Bank’s requirements were met; especially on the enhancements that were requested to further boost levels of accessibility to customers in line with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards.” – Sam Collier, Delivery Lead, Strategy & Simplification, The Co-operative Bank