Co-op Bank. The greenest account there is. Look...

MarkyMarkD

They are indeed. It's rather amusing to see a dissatisfied Co-op customer switching to Smile, when it presumably means their accounts being run by the same staff on the same systems in the same building.

But I might be wrong - it might just be the systems and building which are exactly the same.

Cardew

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

They are indeed. It's rather amusing to see a dissatisfied Co-op customer switching to Smile, when it presumably means their accounts being run by the same staff on the same systems in the same building.

But I might be wrong - it might just be the systems and building which are exactly the same.

However the case of wine for being referred(presumably for both parties!!!) will no doubt be produced from 'fair trade' grapes, grown organically in a country that has an impeccable history of Human Rights - A nice Chilean red, Chez Pinochet for example!

eslick

It depends upon your view of true ethical banking, if you want all of the things in the inital message and dont care about being screwed then this is the bank for you. However the Co-op isnt very ethical when it comes to fleecing their own customers they put their base rate up twice in two months last year outside of the bank of england base rate rises. the excuse was that this was to make them more competitive, but the real reason was to get more money out of the customers, not very ethical in my book. they were also happy to up exit fees three times we were with them even though they said the fee would stay the same. It took the FSA to get our funds back.

Ethics are big business at the moment and in my books they are just another big business who may not put their funds into non ethical businesses but hey they still dont care about the customers and are the same as any other bank

davetrousers

I bank with the co-op and think that they are fairly efficient.

If anyone uses the telephone banking the normal number is 08457 212 212, but if you are abroad OR want to call from your mobile (using your inclusive minutes) you can call the 'landline' number 0169553760.

lynzpower

Cardew wrote: »

Er - are not Smile and Co-op the same company?

No , they are seperate registered companies owned by the same parent company -the co-operative.

Its like cahoot & abbey. One we had no problems with the other caused us no end of grief.

MarkyMarkD

Smile is a division of The Co-operative Bank plc, just like Cahoot is a division of Abbey National plc. They are not separate companies; they don't have separate banking licences.

That doesn't mean that one division may not be far more competent than another.

lynzpower

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

Smile is a division of The Co-operative Bank plc, just like Cahoot is a division of Abbey National plc. They are not separate companies; they don't have separate banking licences.

That doesn't mean that one division may not be far more competent than another.

sorry thats what I meant it was a bit early this morning!

mandarinduck

We had similar experiences with the Halifax and Intelligent Finance. Halifax service was very poor and caused several problems. Intelligent Finance - also under Bank of Scotland - has been really good. It's funny how a different department can make all the difference.

Or maybe previous bad experiences with a particularly branding just make you less patient and more likely to notice their mistakes?! Who knows!

frivolous_fay

I'm with smile, for all the reasons given. The only downside is that since a cheque went awol for a few weeks on the way to my account, I have to hunt around to find a co-op branch to pay in direct at now. (If you didn't know... the post office post cheques to the bank, they're not processed at the PO. I don't trust the post with money!)

The 24 hour UK phone customer support is also a bonus, for those middle of the night panics...

ikr2

Just about to move our joint account from LTSB to Smile. Lots of DDs, SOs and credit payments to move - wish me luck! I have been with LTSB since 1990 so this is the first time I have moved my current account.

As for savings rates - I would rather bank ethically and have the best rate, but if I have to sacrifice 1% or so of interest to avoid the arms dealers and cigarette manufacturers then so be it. For my balances, I am actually better off with Smile than LTSB.

Rates are (Smile first then LTSB; ML = market leader):

Current: 3.04% vs. 4.25%[1] (ML 6.1%)
Online Saver: 5.0% vs. 0.1%[2] (ML 6.4%)
ISA: 5.5% vs 4.5%[3] (ML 6.3%)

[1] on balances up to £2,500; 0.1% on higher balances
[2] 0.1% on balances up to £250; 5.5% on higher balances
[3] Tiered - higher rates apply to balances over £3000

All rates are gross AER

Next step will be to move my personal pension to ethical funds.