I think you are being naive and overly optimistic and will live to regret this association.You may have been better to nominate an interested individual rather than putting your name to this initiative. It can only constantly raise the issues you try to dispel and damage your image of impartiality, which lies at the heart of what you do. Once this has been lost (in reality or as perceived by your followers) it will not easily if ever be recovered.

Anyone any experience of challenging an increase in interest rates on their Coop credit card? I received a letter notifying me of a 1% increase effective 60 days from the letter as a result of a review of my account. This is the first time in the 30+ years I have held the card I have received such notification and I have never received notification that the interest rate was to be reduced as the result of such a review! I suspect that the review process is a one-way street and would like to challenge it, probably directly through the County Court as an unfair practice under COBS. I will first contact Jon Bowen (Head of Customer Services, ex head of Sales) for an explanation of the EXACT review process and elements they considered as a part of the review but do not expect a timely or useful response. In the letter they provide a broken link to the UK Cards Association fact sheet on re-pricing (I eventually found the doc myself) but that does not throw any useful light on the topic other than the issuing bank has the right to review and alter the interest rate to reflect risk and they can decide what elements to review. If I do not know EXACTLY what elements have led to this increase how can I possibly change my spending/payment behavior to not only ensure there are no further increases but to reduce the current level? By not making this data available to me they are denying me the opportunity to reduce my CC interest rates and using opacity to gouge another 1% out of me! PS I am a member of the Cooperative movement but that obviously makes no difference; we are all treated equally (sometimes badly) , members or not....

I had a similar experience as a 30+ year customer trying to open a student account for my son on him moving to the UK last year. I received different advice from 4 individuals in the bank. Eventually (after several weeks) I received a paper application form which I submitted with supporting docs. It was rejected with no reason and he was told that to find the reason he would have to pay £10 and contact Experian so clearly a credit check failure issue. This is not surprising given he had no presence in the UK and no address! I had explained this in every call to the Coop prior to the application and I was assured that it was not an issue....he was peeved so went across the road to Barclays and an account was opened with 2 days.I suspect that the individual in Student Accounts just processed this application as all others as doing anything else would take some additional effort given the lack of procedure for non-UK applicants. Staff are always pleasant but not always competent and management even less so, especially when it comes to processes to deal with anything that is an exception or minority, such as non-UK clients. Shame, given the lack of ethical alternatives....