... Especially since Sue asked so nicely! I think we all need to write a bit less on lush and more on finance … ‘LOOK YOU LOT… stop throwing rotten tomatoes and booing at me! You can write about Lush if you want, I was only kidding!’
THE CARD
I think I’ll ... Read review
Advantages: Low interest, cashback, easy website Disadvantages: They can take ages!
...think I’ll start with my Smile credit card, one of many in my lovely little black purse! First off it is a very attractive light musky pink metallic card – very attractive indeed! They also offer a gold card for you snobs out there!
The reason I applied for this card was due to me growing up and finally taking control of my finances. I realised I was paying far to much interest 18.9% to be precise, this was with HSBC – ... ...fee either.
Smile has an APR of 10.5% currently on its credit card – this may vary. I am also currently opening a smile account to get that dropped to 9.9% and then also gain interest of 3.04 gross on a my current account balance. I’ll write about this as soon as all the cards arrive.
Back to the advantages of the Smile card, it also offers 0.5% cash-back on all purchases, the cash-back is paid one month ... more
Righty ho then! After I read the op on pennies slipping through the fingers by SueMagee I thought I’d give it a go…. Especially since Sue asked so nicely! I think we all need to write a bit less on lush and more on finance … ‘LOOK YOU LOT… stop throwing rotten tomatoes and booing at me! You can write about Lush if you want, I was only kidding!’
THE CARD
I think I’ll start with my Smile credit card, one of many in my lovely little black purse! First off it is a very attractive light musky pink metallic card – very attractive indeed! They also offer a gold card for you snobs out there!
The reason I applied for this card was due to me growing up and finally taking control of my finances. I realised I was paying far to much interest 18.9% to be precise, this was with HSBC – I know it’s convenient to have everything with the same high street account you’ve had since you were 5 but you really should consider it. For example on my £2000 balance I could save £145.40p in a year and that’s not including the 6 months interest free period you get for the first 6 months. They don't have an annual fee either.
Smile has an APR of 10.5% currently on its credit card – this may vary. I am also currently opening a smile account to get that dropped to 9.9% and then also gain interest of 3.04 gross on a my current account balance. I’ll write about this as soon as all the cards arrive.
Back to the advantages of the Smile card, it also offers 0.5% cash-back on all purchases, the cash-back is paid one month in arrears and automatically deducted from your balance. So if you pay the balance in full and buy a lot through the month on the credit card this could be the one for you!
You get 46 days interest free if you pay all balances in full, you also have the option of payment protection too… I’m afraid I’m not that sensible yet! – Doubt I will be, I think it’s a waste of money! You can also request an additional card for the other half or you mate (Hmmm, I’m not that stupid either!)
Any loss over £50 for fraudulent transactions will also be covered by Smile, this is usually the standard for all bank s and credit cards though different circumstances will make a difference.
You also get a small book of cheques, which could be handy but these have the same charge as a cash transaction so not such a good idea, this is £2 or 2% which ever is the greater.
The payments required can be taken by Direct Debit and they require 3% of the balance of £5 which ever is the greater. Alternatively you could pay the outstanding balance.
APPLICATION
Now the application process isn’t that bad, it’s fairly quick and downloads the application so it is secure, it will depend on your computer or browser so you may have to be patient. If you have any problems they have a technical help line that is open from 8am till 10pm seven days a week. You go through the application quite quickly, they require 3 years worth of addresses and details of your income, working in a bank myself there is a rumour that unless you take home over a £1000 a month you will be declined or referred and they may need further information. You will also need to have security information handy such as your first school, last school, and memorable name. I have forgotten these once and they were very quick to unblock the account but took longer to answer the phone!
The website is bright pink so don’t forget your sunnies!
You find out the result once you have applied by getting an enrolment number, you have to log on with this and they send you a secure message that will tell you if they need any further information or if your account has been accepted.
Now I must say that I was declined – not that I expected anything different! So I went through the appeal process, I sent off 3 months bank statements that will show that I have not gone over my overdraft limit and I don’t have any unpaid items. It will also show a regular income. I must say from application to actually receiving the card took me about 3 months! They were very busy and I did have to send another for of ID, as one was not acceptable. This would be the one thing that I would have to complain about, they do take a long time to complete the application if any further investigation is needed. If you do appeal you may find that you will not hear anything from them, if you mail them they will tell you what date they are working from and when yours will eventually be looked at!
The statements are shown online and are fairly clear to see. You receive an email every month to tell you when this is available. You can also send and receive secure messages to Smile if you have any queries. They usually take around 48 hours plus to respond. Not the quickest response times around but if it’s urgent you can call them. But then again it was voted the best credit card at the Guardian Consumer Finance Awards 2002, can’t be bad, maybe that’s the reason for their busyness?!
I also completed two balance transfers which took around 4 days to complete, not as good as Egg but I’ll get to them another day! You can do this online, which is very easy and convenient, not like any other credit card I have.
Altogether I would really recommend this card, the interest is fab, the website is much easier to use than Eggs but their response times are not the speediest in the world! But it depends on what you’re looking for. I have only ever needed to contact them when I was getting fed up with the wait! You can apply for other accounts and ISA’s there and not have to fill in another application form! Woohoo!
Well thank you for reading, we’ll soon see about those pennies….. Lets see if financial matters send you all to sleep!
Advantages: Good interest rate, cashback Disadvantages: Not the greatest statements
I've had a Smile credit for almost 2 years. The intest rate is very good (around 10.5%), although this is still higher than Cahoot, at 7% - which I would recommend over this.
There is no annual fee, and interest rates differ dependent on whether it is a regular, gold or platinum card - check the website for the latest rates.
0.5% cashback may not seem a lot, but it's half a percent more than you had before, eh? It is paid monthly.
The Smile website ... ...you keep your eye out, Smile will occasionally have interest free deals, but don't forget the interest rate is lower than most other cards anyway.
Why choose Smile over other cards?
1. They are part of Cooperative Bank and are therefore ethical - using a Smile (or Coop) card over another may only be a small thing, but it's better than doing absolutely nothing.
2. The interest rate is attractive (although if interest is your only concern, go for ...
a_marshall100 17.03.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Smile Credit Card
Advantages: Good APR - including introductory 0% Disadvantages: No Frills/No Points Scheme - but cash back available
...(pre-filled) through the post. Once smile get it back you application is complete.
TIME FROM APPLICATION TO RECEIPT OF CARD
7 days ! Excellent compared to some other card providers
CREDIT LIMIT AGREED
A generous limit provided at the outside for myself (£5000) which when you consider I was unknown to smile (or Coop bank whom smile are part of) I consider pretty good.
CARD FEATURES
Intro APR 0% Standard APR 9.9% - very competitive. Usual interest ...
jackg 27.11.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Smile Credit Card
Advantages: Cashback, top security, easy online payment Disadvantages: Only available online - might be a disadvantage to some.
...and Leicester Cashback card to Smile 6 months ago, after a payment to A & L was delayed while I was on holiday and I got stung with an 'overdue payment' charge. REASONS FOR CHOOSING SMILE THE ETHICAL BANK. I always look for 'cashback' cards and pay the balance at the end of the month, so was drawn to Smile because of the Cooperative Bank's ethical stance. You can find out more about that online, but basically, The Co-op Bank are not involved with ... ...Also, Guardian readers voted the Smile card as the best cashback credit card in their 2002 awards, so it's GOT to be worth considering.
LOW APR. The Smile APR is very good, too - 10.9% or 9.9% if you also have a Smile current account - so if you have an outstanding balance, switching to Smile is definitely worth considering. If it wasn't for the fact that some cards offer 0% interest for balance transfers, I'd give the APR an 'excellent' rating, ...
battiest 01.03.2003 (12.03.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Smile Credit Card
Advantages: easy statements viewing,rate can be lowered with other products Disadvantages: online bank so no branches to make payments in..
...pleasure of taking out a smile gold card, noticing I can get a rate of 9.9% if I take a current account out, I did exactly that.
It was exceptionally easy to get my cards and I found smile a really friendly and reasonably efficient provider. The fact they are ethical did also make me feel slightly better about my contribution to a better tomorrow for some.
I have found the card very good, I have other credit cards such as an MBNA plat plus, a first ... ...people some info which i have benefitted from recently. I had a first direct normal credit card which i had 0% interest on for 6 months, then noticing i had a good payment record and credit history increased my limit to 3k which is the minimum for the gold card, and then requested an upgrade to the gold card.
this was swiftly approved and then i had a NEW account opened (not converted as i had been told) and therefore i was given the recent promotional ...
mark_mat80 14.11.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Smile Credit Card
Advantages: Good permanent rate Disadvantages: Only available on line
...each month from money in the Smile account.
Another bonus is that Smile are part of the Co-op and not some large multinational corp, so their policies and investments are more ethical
If you like managing your money on-line, this is a good and easy site to use ...
lemonhead125 05.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Smile Credit Card
Competitiveness of APR
Product package
Quality of Customer Ser...
Reward Scheme
Additional Charges
Security and Privacy
Ease of Application
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Advantages: Courteous, effecient Disadvantages: (wheres my credit limit?)
I have been experiencing some problems with my Smilecreditcard and would like to commend smile for their approach to dealing with the situation.
The situation arose when I received a smilecreditcard with a tiny weenies little credit limit on it. I was unaware of how low the limit would be so I decided to cancel the card straight away, informing them by the Smile Secure Messaging System they offer online.
After about a month I logged on to my account, only to find the card had an entry against it for a shop I do not use in a town I’d never been to. Somewhat concerned I informed them about the situation and they duly removed the entry.
A few more weeks go by, I log on again, and this time there's an entry against it in a shop I do use in a town I do go to! This really confused me - as not only had I cut the card up ...
mrjones 25.06.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Smile
Advantages: easy to apply for, easy to operate, safe, good security, backed by the Co-op Disadvantages: not much
‘Link’ machines (and there are 000s of those). I believe you can also withdraw money over the counter at Post Offices – current account holders only.
What other services do they offer?
Pretty much a full range of Banking services. Certainly you can apply for a SMILECreditcard online and through their Co-op bank parent, loans, insurance and even mortgages.
I have had no problems since opening my own SMILE Account. Ciao payments are paid directly into my account (when made – hey c’mon Ciao time for last months!). I have also linked my Smile account to my Paypal US$ account and can withdraw funds (in $ but converted into £) from there back to my UK Account which usually takes around 4 business days. I also have a ‘bill payment’ facility with my Nationwide account which I can transfer money ...
flashpointz 28.11.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smile
Advantages: 0% overdraft if you got in quick enough Disadvantages: You'll be waiting a long time for everything!
Well, I opened an account after trying smile, just to take advantage of the 0% offer on creditcards and overdrafts. I must say that whilst I am pleased to have 0% on my overdraft for a year, the rest of the service does not compare to that provided by smile. It took ages to receive a cheque book, I still haven't received a paying in book or envelopes to deposit cheques, so at the moment I am still using my smile account instead. Perhaps this fact guides you in the right direction? ...
peppermint 26.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Cahoot Accounts
