The Cumberland Building Society is based in Cumbria, with other branches based in south west Scotland, Northumberland, and Lancashire. There are 34 branches in total. Products include a business current account, savings account, and commercial mortgages. The Cumberland is a mutual organisation with no shareholders and offers ethical ways to invest your savings.
Cumberland Building Society Business Banking Services
Current Accounts
A Cumberland bank account is free for the first 12 months for businesses with a turnover of up to £250,000. You can switch from your current account in just 7 days, and manage everything online and on the app 24/7. You can also sync your current account with Xero accounting software.
The current account costs £3-5 a month, and there are extra charges for other account functions.
Savings account
Instant access
Save with easy access to your money and earn up to 0.30% AER. Interest is paid annually and there’s a minimum opening balance of £1.
E-savings
The e-savings account is available to online banking customers only. It gives you easy access to your money and you can earn a higher rate of 1.00% AER. The minimum opening balance is £1, and your account balance can’t exceed £1,000,000.
40-day notice
Access your money with notice and earn 0.20% AER. The minimum opening balance is £10,000, and your account balance can’t exceed £1,000,000.
Overdrafts
You can arrange an overdraft on request. Interest rates are 12.73% p.a. variable EAR.
Business finance and loans
Commercial mortgages are the only borrowing product available. You can typically raise up to 65% of the property value and the minimum mortgage available is £75,000. Properties can be leasehold or freehold. The maximum mortgage term is 25 years on a capital repayment basis or 10 years on an interest-only basis.
The types of property included are hospitality properties such as guest house, hotels and B&Bs as well as holiday lets and buy to let properties.
Cumberland Building Society Reviews and Ratings
Trustpilot reviews are fairly negative and tend to be due to poor customer service and speed of service. Feefo reviews are mainly positive with current customers say set up and account management is easy, and customer service is very helpful. The critics say there are hidden charges and customer service is slow.
There are no reviews on Reviews.co.uk. The Cumberland isn’t included in the Which? list of ‘Best & Worst Banks’.
Cumberland Building Society ranked 1st for ‘digital maturity‘ in a list of the UK’s 40 building societies. The building societies were judged on mobile optimisation, website speed, online content, digital marketing, and more.
Trustpilot – 2.2/5 (based on 10 reviews)
Reviews.co.uk – not available
Feefo – 4.8/5 (based on 4,553 reviews)
Smart Money People – 4.72/5 (based on 46 reviews)
Which? – not included
Pros
- Competitive interest rates and a good choice of fixed and flexible accounts.
- Current account is easy to manage
- Feefo reviews are very good.
Cons
- Reviews suggest that extra charges can be a surprise.
- No branches in the midlands or south of England.