Smile - Are they any good?

Jules_M_2

Have put message higher up the board about the smilemore account which I and my hubby have. Charges going up to £10 from £7.50 - is it worth it? Should I move back to normal account?

Agree with all comments on customer service, always excellent, site very secure, easy to use, decent interest rate if not highest available. But starting to worry too about rising charges and nosediving interest rates on savings.

Advice on the smilemore account anyone?

Jules

hansi

Jules_M wrote:

Have put message higher up the board about the smilemore account which I and my hubby have. Charges going up to £10 from £7.50 - is it worth it? Should I move back to normal account?

Agree with all comments on customer service, always excellent, site very secure, easy to use, decent interest rate if not highest available. But starting to worry too about rising charges and nosediving interest rates on savings.

Advice on the smilemore account anyone?

Jules

yes, don't do it. not worth it.

[Deleted User]

It takes courage to move a current account and smile and other banks do appear to count on customer inertia

CopperPlate_2

I'd have to agree. smilemore used to be about £6.50 and has gone up steadily without any value being added to the package. Also, smile seem to be shaving interest rates progressively with their savings and increasing other rates on their products like credit cards. I'm looking at moving to Nationwide soon, and also FD as long as they don't bring in a monthly charge. Although I figure I'm in a better position to lobby them from within as a customer than without as a member of the public at large!

BTW, if I didn't make it clear, a tenner for smilemore ain't worth it at the moment.

M_Thomson

kittie wrote:

I have been with smile for over 20 years and have no axe to grind.

20 Years??! Smile started on the internet in the late 90's . Do you mean the Co-Op as a bank instead?

EagerLearner

I opened an account with smile 4 years ago paralell to my First Direct account, to compare. Smile are nothing like FD in my opinion and I found the Smile site much more basic too, plus cheques take longer to clear. Service was ok but basic and seemed to be students or temps who weren't very knowledgeable. I recently tried opening a joint account with Cahoot also, which was a joke - was forced to first open a sole account and then we canceled the account after 3 weeks, having had no joy of it seeing the light of day as a joint account.

First Direct are only just hanging on there compared to the above 2 banks - their service cannot be faulted anytime of day - you always get a real person within about 3 rings max. However rates are not competitive anymore...

hansi

I cannot agrre with your comment that cheques take longer to clear with Smile. If I pay cheques into the Co-op Bank on a Monday, they are usually cleared by Wednesday. FD aren't that quick, I know, I had an account with them.

EagerLearner

hansi wrote:

I cannot agrre with your comment that cheques take longer to clear with Smile. If I pay cheques into the Co-op Bank on a Monday, they are usually cleared by Wednesday. FD aren't that quick, I know, I had an account with them.

My account with them was 4 years ago - I was stating my experience of them then. Besides, not everyone has a Co-Op branch near them, so they need to be aware that they take longer to credit via post.

hansi

Three working days if you post them, Same as everyone else.

dwileflunker

I've had a Co-op current account for over 30 years which I changed to a Smile Account and then a Smilemore account, and I can honestly say I can count on one hand the problems I've had over all that time, and those problems were really only of a minor nature.

The cost of running the Smilemore account has just gone up to £10 per month but for me the benefits I derive are more than satisfactory and outweigh the cost. You get Full Green Flag cover (just upgraded to include at home) and Worldwide annual travel insurance for the family. If this cover is something you want then I'd suggest you'd struggle to get it for £120 per year (I did a quick check with GF and got a quote of £61 and using Martin's checker travel insurance quote of £63). I've claimed off the travel insurance a couple of times with no problem and I've used the Green Flag, again with no problems. There's also an increased overdraft facility which I don't use plus a couple of other perks which may or maynot be of use. If these things are no good to you, then stick with the basic Smile account that doesn't have the charge.

Like all internet accounts paying cheques into the account is the most difficult but I would suggest that the option of using the post office and Co-op Bank branches is better than most. If you have lots of regular cheques a local branch based account maybe a better option. I've always found the service both through the secure mail system and on the phone to be more than adequate and staff are always helpful and polite, and not somewhere at the otherside of the world. Their ethical policy may or may not be a plus it depends on your views.

Products through the bank are competitive but you don't have to take them if you can do better elsewhere. Paying bills,money transfers etc. have always gone through satisfactorily so all in all I would highly recommend them. I've had other accounts with other banks running at the same time and never got the same service that I get with Smile.

At the end of the day you can always close the account if you're not happy, but I'd say go for it.