I must say I was surprised to see so many critical reviews of Intelligent Finance here on Ciao. I felt I must redress the balance somewhat as I have had a completely different experience with them.
Intelligent Finance are a division of Halifax plc. They are solely internet based which ... Read review
Advantages: money works harder than in a normal bank Disadvantages: can be complicated to understand at first
...so many critical reviews of Intelligent Finance here on Ciao. I felt I must redress the balance somewhat as I have had a completely different experience with them.
Intelligent Finance are a division of Halifax plc. They are solely internet based which is ideal for a lazy bones like me. Having come across a link to their website I went to investigate...
The website (www.if.com) itself is clearly laid out and easy ... ...feel confident in dealing with Intelligent Finance.
IF claim to be 'not just another bank but a new way of banking' and this is why:
You apply for an Intelligent Finance Plan which is basically a 'folder' containing one or more products. I opened my Plan with a current account and a savings account but you can apply for as many products as you like (eg credit card/loan/mortgage aswell). You treat these products like ... more
I must say I was surprised to see so many critical reviews of Intelligent Finance here on Ciao. I felt I must redress the balance somewhat as I have had a completely different experience with them.
Intelligent Finance are a division of Halifax plc. They are solely internet based which is ideal for a lazy bones like me. Having come across a link to their website I went to investigate...
The website (www.if.com) itself is clearly laid out and easy to understand. There are fantastic step by step demos which explain the way IF work using Macromedia Flash or Non Flash (text). You can find information about the different products they offer on this site but in my case I like to talk to someone first so I just telephoned and presented the poor service agent with an endless barrage of questions. The agent I dealt with was incredibly patient and made sure that I understood everything before I finished the call. This, coupled with politeness and a dash of humour, added to my experience and made me feel confident in dealing with Intelligent Finance.
IF claim to be 'not just another bank but a new way of banking' and this is why:
You apply for an Intelligent Finance Plan which is basically a 'folder' containing one or more products. I opened my Plan with a current account and a savings account but you can apply for as many products as you like (eg credit card/loan/mortgage aswell). You treat these products like pots of money and give them any name you want to. For example you savings jar could be called Rainy Day.
Depending on which products you choose there are various options open to you in order to make your money work harder for you:
OPTION 1 - reduce the cost of your borrowings by offsetting your credit balances against your debit balances. It is apparently possible to reduce the cost of your borrowings to 0%!. If you have £2000 in your current account and a credit card balance of £1000 then this means that you won't be charged interest on your credit card balance (not bad heh?) and you will receive interest on the remaining £1000 on the £2000 in your current account.
OPTION 2 - BE WARNED TO READ THIS PART SLOWLY maximise the interest you receive by matching the interest rate on the money you have with the money you borrow. To explain..imagine you have a £1000 loan and £500 on your credit card (debt of £1500) but £1000 in your savings and £200 in your current account (credit of £1200). By choosing to pay the interest (rather than offsetting it)on the loan and credit card then you receive the credit card interest rate on your £200 of savings and the personal loan interest on the other £800 of your savings aswell as your £200 current account balance.
In essence they stack the credit balances up next to the debit balances. The credit balances are stacked from the lowest interest rate at the bottom to the highest at the top. The debit balances are stacked the opposite way round with the highest interest rates at the bottom and the lowest at the top.
It is quite complicated to explain but if you look at the website you will see pictorial representation to make it easier to understand.
Now, having said this, for someone with only credit balances like me this doesn't apply as I have nothing to offset. However, I can understand how it works for someone with any of the debit products such as a mortgage. I do like the idea of being able to do this in the future which is why I applied in the first place.
So, for little old me with just a current and savings account, what do I get out of it?
Simple - I get savings interest rates on BOTH! (about 4%)
After all the tecchie stuff I would also mention that you get a Switch card on your current account. A joy for anyone who has ever experienced the ravages of just having a Solo card which is not as widely accepted. One great feature is that you don't have to have your monthly salary paid into the current account so you can,in effect, use it as a second bank account like I have done. It just makes it easier for me to separate my finances.
It goes without saying that you can set up direct debits, standing orders or bill payments online. For the unexpected bills you also have a cheque book. As for getting money into your account then you can either post a cheque or electronically transfer it.
The welcome pack you receive is very clear and detailed so you don't feel comletely removed despite the fact that this is an internet only bank. Plus you get monthly statements through the post.
I can honestly say that I have had a very smooth and easy partnership with Intelligent Finance so far and any queries have always been dealt with promptly whether via the website or telephone. Don't be put off by the 'different way' that IF apply interest as it is easy once you get the hang of it. I would definitely recommend it for those of you that want a second bank account.
Advantages: Low interest rates and besides you don't lose anything just by looking!! Disadvantages: Obviously you are borrowing money which means debt but other than that - none really!!
Unintelligent would be the name for you if you didn’t at least consider looking at this site if you were looking for a loan, a mortgage, a credit card or somewhere to invest your savings and open an account.
I stumbled across this site when I was checking out interest rates for loans so I thought I would give it a go. www.if.com is the site I got to where the layout is very simple and easy on the eye to look at. With it’s soothing colour ... ...informative and helpful.
First you are taken to a plain simple page where you pick the service you require. You have a choice of Mortgage, Personal Loans, Credit Cards, Current Account and Savings. I went for the Personal Loan link. From here you are taken, rather quickly, to a page with information on, examples for you to read through and a Quick Quote option. There are links back to other plans you may wish to see at the top of the page you are ...
Paula_23_uk 07.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Intelligent Finance
Advantages: They gave me a Swtich card?! Disadvantages: Been locked out their website too many times!
Intelligent Finance the bank that did say Yes, unlike many others who did not….
There was me, 27 with a Halifax account and no one anywhere would let me have a Switch card. See, me like many others out there when I as a young lass made some silly mistakes with credit cards and store cards and loans…. Need I continue? So, after paying my dues and living like a good girl for a long time, I was shocked time after time to be turned down by everyone ... ...general. Till one day my friend came to visit and recommended I try IF. I of course told him there was no way they would give me an account, after all they are linked to Halifax and they wouldn’t let me upgrade my account, so why would IF be any different? ‘Ah haaa’, he said. They will if you don’t have an overdraft. So, mockingly I went along with it and applied and to my disbelief they did accept me and let me have a current account. So, all was ...
Miss_BooBookitty 01.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Intelligent Finance
Advantages: good interest rates Disadvantages: slow, inflexible, too many catches
What attracted me to IF.com was the interest rates. They compare very well and came out on top when I did a search using www.moneysupermarket.com (another one of my comments). However my experiences from applying to this moment in time are far from good.
Apart from taking almost 3 weeks to open my original plan (a savings account that doesnt even require a credit check)the contact between IF and myself was particuarlly poor. For security they have ... ...to contact them. They dont accept ordinary emails. This is ok but it is time consuming and they reply is far from quick in coming. They do have a call me back facility on the web site but for the past 2 months it has been unavailable. I sent a message to them from the web site about this and another matter and 3 days later got a reply. Apart from not resolving my original query they also informed me that they had no idea when the facility might be ...
mattpepper 15.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Intelligent Finance
Advantages: Good Online Software , Excellent Interest Rates Disadvantages: Inconvenient for Cheques / Paying In
...have been a memebr of Intelligent Finance (I.F.)for around a year now and having spent so much of my time complaining about other banks I thought I should write something nice.
I.F. are an entirely online bank and while they did start out as a subsidiary of Halifax are now entirely their own division. I point this out because I initially thought I could use the Halifax branches as their High Street "presence". This is pretty much not the case so ... ...to pay in you have to send it to I.F. head office. This is by far the most inconvenient thing and really this bank is only suitable if you have your main monthly income submitted to it. I would recommend opening a High Street account as well to deal with many of the igh Street things you still need.
I switched my main account , personal loan (consolidation) , Credit Card and ISA to I.F. It is incredibly convenient to be able to switch between all ...
pjryan 03.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Intelligent Finance
Advantages: Good rates of interest, all products with one bank Disadvantages: No high street branches
...but one that accepted was Intelligent Finance. I was, well to put it simply, chuffed to be accepted for my first credit card and decided to open a current and savings account at the same time.
The Bank
***********
Launched in 2000, Intelligent Finance is a web and phone based bank, so there are no high street branches. However, as a division of Halifax PLC they do have big name backing, which as I'm sure you realise, makes for piece of mind.
... ...The Products
*****************
Intelligent Finance offers a number of financial products.
MORTGAGES : There are four types of mortgage available.
1. Offset Mortgage - which gives you the chance to link your mortgage to your current account and savings, and “offset” the credit balance against your debit balance. This sounds complicated but means that instead of receiving interest on your savings, you will not pay interest on the equivalent amount ...
sandemp 02.01.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Intelligent Finance
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