Background:
I have been a customer from year1. I had (still have in fact) accounts with barclays and abbey national however they are now used only for emergencies now. Disatisfied with both I looked at the newly advertised smile. The great interest rates - ethical banking (it being part of ... Read review
Advantages: The BEST bank by far Disadvantages: not quite the most competitive interest rates and internet only
...or the co-op of which smile is a subsidiary.
You can setup standing orders, direct debits, pay bills, transfer funds and all the usual banking tasks. Best to look at the online demo to see all this in action.
I have used the web site on both mac and pc and even linux and unix. I have used it on netscape 4 and IE. I am currently using netscape7 with no problems. They only validate explorer but the other browers work though with the ... ...a focus group to discuss smile and banking. The meeting was in a pub rather than the more usual hotel room. The market researcher explained that smile had asked for this specifically as they felt the money should be better spent on the customers than on providing big conference rooms for focuse groups. THe marketing guy was so impressed with his clients that he set up a smile account to. He said they were some of the friendliest and most sincere ... more
Background: I have been a customer from year1. I had (still have in fact) accounts with barclays and abbey national however they are now used only for emergencies now. Disatisfied with both I looked at the newly advertised smile. The great interest rates - ethical banking (it being part of co-op) made me think it seemed to be good to true. Eventually I plucked up the courage and went for it.
Initial impressions: It was not clear and some people still seemed confused by the application criteria. YOu need EITHER your SALARY to be paid in regularly OR at least £1000/month ie. if your salary is less then £1000/month then thats fine as long as its regular. A fairly painless transfer for myself, though I know others that have had some problems getting accepted. I have few direct debits to transfer and good credit rating. Even then it only takes a quick call to the amazingly efficient customer services to sort out most application problems. I filled out the simple clear online application and sat back and waited... Soon enough a card arrived which I could start using immediately even before depositing any money using up my £500 free overdraft! Cheque book and welcome pack soon followed. The web site at that time was rather ameuterish though I would say more human and friendly. It was simple and a joy to use. Quick at all times and never in my experience crashed. It was always available except for very ocasional maintenance very late at night. Do you really need to check your balance at 3am?? I was delighted with the amazing interest at the time around 4.5% I think. I earnt more in one month than I did in a whole year with rip off barclays and useless abbey national.
Current experience: I am still smiling. I keep wonder when I will awake from this pleasant dream, when the dark unplesant reality of todays corporate money grabbing business world will cut in.. .after about 5 years it hasnt yet! Sure interest rates have gone down but they pledge to both raise and lower interest rates directly inline with base rate. They have not so recently redesigned the web site so it looks a little more professional. Gone are the quirky pictures but it is still pleasant, clean and free of clutter (unlike egg!) Could be a few improvements but they are pretty much spot on with this now. I have NEVER had a problem or any complaint whatsoever. I may be lucky but the legions of happy customers have come across make me think that I am not just lucky. Customer service is still outstanding at every level, both on the phone and through the secure email system they have in place. Replies are always sent within 24 hours minimum.
Details: Wont go into this too much as you can find most info on the site. They provide cash mini ISA's (they used to have the best rates around check for current status), current accounts, credit card accounts, savings account, student accounts and loans. They also provide other services such as insurance and mortgages and stocks isa's but these are provided by third parties or the co-op of which smile is a subsidiary. You can setup standing orders, direct debits, pay bills, transfer funds and all the usual banking tasks. Best to look at the online demo to see all this in action. I have used the web site on both mac and pc and even linux and unix. I have used it on netscape 4 and IE. I am currently using netscape7 with no problems. They only validate explorer but the other browers work though with the exception of Opera I think.
A short story that sums up smiles attitude I think Soon after joining I was asked to join a focus group to discuss smile and banking. The meeting was in a pub rather than the more usual hotel room. The market researcher explained that smile had asked for this specifically as they felt the money should be better spent on the customers than on providing big conference rooms for focuse groups. THe marketing guy was so impressed with his clients that he set up a smile account to. He said they were some of the friendliest and most sincere people he had worked with. Weirdly all us smile disciples agreed, fervently preaching the wonders of smile...
Advantages: secure service, good rates, fast site, easy to use Disadvantages: none
...on TV insisting that everyone smile (a nice thought!). The first internet bank that I set up with was First-e, but due to the fact that at the end of September 2001 they stopped trading in the UK I had to get a new account. The only place that I could think of was Smile, this appealed to me for several reasons, well just the one, I wanted a card with a smile on it!
** Services Offered**
Current Account - They offer you a whopping 3.29% gross AER ... ...from £1500 to £15,000.
Smile also offer ISA's, Mortgages, Motor Insurance, Travel Insurance and Student Accounts all of which are great value for money.
** Opening an Account **
This is very easy, all you have to do is fill in a few details about yourself like name, date of birth, address, e-mail address and what account you want (if you have an account already fill in the deatails about this too). Having done this you will get an enrolment number, ...
ia_young 08.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smile
Advantages: Ease of use of the web site, excellent rates of interest Disadvantages: None so far
...fault of our old bank. Smile were always helpful when we rang to check what was happening the operators are always polite and cheerful.
Logging on to the site is easy and the information is well laid out. Being able to access real time statements is extremely helpful, especially when you need to check when a particular payment or debit has gone through.
Cancelling direct debits is very easy( no writing and hoping it has been done).
The use of ... ...remember telephone helpline. You enter your details first and go through the security checks and are greeted by name by the operator. The staff listen and you are not rushed or fobbed off.
All in all I would thoroughly recommend Smile to anyone looking for a quality bank account. ...
rlmjam 14.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smile
Advantages: easy to apply for, easy to operate, safe, good security, backed by the Co-op Disadvantages: not much
...Savings account balance too.
SMILE is simple to operate, easy to set up and apply for – all done online. Go to www.smile.co.uk and select what account you would like. As well as your regular details, they ask for several ‘security’ favourites like ‘place of birth’, ‘mothers maiden name’ etc and you are asked these – at random – each time you log in to your SMILE Account. In addition you are requested ... ...until you make contact with SMILE Customer service – by phone – to address the situation. If someone has tried to gain access to your money, they’d be blocked, unless they knew your answers and code.
• Who are SMILE?
Well, they are part of the Co-operative Bank, so an extremely sound and well backed company. Your hard earned money is safe and secure with the Co-op.
• How do you pay money in and take money out?
If ...
flashpointz 28.11.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smile
Advantages: Easy to use, customer centered Disadvantages: Still haven't got a million in there yet
...Current account credit balances on Smile (now 3.04% gross), and that there was a fee free overdraft of £500 attached to each Smile Current Account (handy for those occasional lapses in budgeting), I was very interested. Two other big plus points were that transfers between Smile accounts are instant, and that you can pay money in through your local Post Office. That meant that I could put my wages from my part time job into my partners Smile Savings ... ...also have a Smile Current account) or one of my Smile accounts via the Post Office. All I had to do was fill in a deposit slip in his paying in book, hand over the book and the cash, and wait for the cash to be checked and the counterfoil and the deposit slip to be stamped. Funnily enough I found that I could have been depositing over the Post Office counter to my original current account with Barclays! Unfortunately I have been taking the bus 5 ...
assethound 26.12.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smile
Advantages: ETHICAL! Good interest rate. £500 overdraft Disadvantages: Nasty cerise logo that scared my budgie
...calls itself ‘Smile:The Internet bank,’ Smile is an internet bank. Accounts, therefore, can only be managed via the internet or (to a lesser extent) over the phone. You probably already know what an internet bank is, so I won’t bore you with any further details. Instead, I will offer a quick comparison between Smile’s current account and those of some other companies.
COMPARISON
One of the first eye-catching things about ... ...substantially lower overheads. Anyway, Smile is one of the market leaders in this respect, offering a cool 4.79% on all balances in the black. By way of comparison, here are the top interest rates for cheque accounts as of March 11th 2001:
Cahoot 4.90%
Intelligent finance: 4.89%
Smile: 4.79%
The other banks that offer comparable interest rates all require a minimum deposit of £2500 or more, so I won’t include them.
Another bonus on ...
Amadahn 21.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smile
Advantages: Ethical bank, good interest rates, cheap overdraft, OK site, Post Office OTC service Disadvantages: Extortionate admin and penalty charges, can't remove overdarft, seems slow
I will be very non-PC in this review, I am warning you. Everybody is raving about Smile, aren't they? Especially the ethically minded, politically conscious folk....
Smile IS an Internet-branch of Co-Operative bank and thus is considered to be a much better thing in ethical stakes than the let's say the corporate horror that is Barclays.
But it's not all that smiley and lovely down there in Smile-land.
This review relates only to the CURRENT ACCOUNT provided by Smile. There is no special category for these and general reviews seem to concentrate on that aspect of banking service.
I applied for the Smile current account back then in 2000. It was fairly early days of Internet banking and most of the bricks-and-mortar banks didn't offer the on-line facility.
Later on I acquired an on-line access to the Barclays account I ...
magdadh 18.01.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smile Accounts
Advantages: Online management is far superior,better interest rate, overdraft Disadvantages: charges for statements
Having been a customer for a year now I have experience which I can share about thes E-bank. When I joined I was getting disgruntled with my highstreet bank so I decided to switch. I contacted Smile and the details arrived promptly. I received letters which I just had to sign and pop in pre-payed envelopes. The procedure was made very simple and the staff were very helpful. Within a couple weeks the transition was complete and I was about to find whether or not I really did have reason to smile. Further assurance was given to me by the fact it was backed by the Co-operative bank, this company is aimed at offering a standard of service to customers and the customers come first. The bank had also received a kitemark from the British Standards Institute for security. Ontop of all that they promised to repay any loss experienced due to ...
floater 30.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smile Accounts
Advantages: Internet operated, good rates Disadvantages: site can be slow to load
I have had a Smile mini cash ISA for over a year now, and have been very impressed with the product and the service. Smile is the internet arm of the Co-operative bank, and the ISA accounts are operated on-line, although you can phone as well. You pay in money by direct debit from existing accounts, or you can pay in cheques by post or put money in at the post office.
When I opened the ISA the interest rate was the highest around at 7.25%. Even now that savings rates have dropped in line with cuts in the Bank of England base rate, the Smile ISA is continuously top of the savings ratings given in the money sections of the newspapers, and it is still paying out 6%. Interest is added at the end of the tax year in April.
Signing up for the account on-line in the first place was very simple, although the fact that we had recently moved ...
Suse 06.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smile Accounts
