Smile Current Account

montycat_2

Just looking at Smile accounts (Did use search but couldn't find many threads that helped)

Anyone have one ?

Fors and againsts please ?

Is it worth paying the £10.00 a month for the Plus account ?

Thank you .

margaretclare

montycat wrote: »

Just looking at Smile accounts (Did use search but couldn't find many threads that helped)

Anyone have one ?

Yes.

Fors and againsts please?

They've been fine all the time I've had this Smile account (couple of years now, changed from cahoot).

Can't think of anything to say against them. Unless you disapprove of the 'co-operative' ideology which underpins it - I approve of 'co-op' but I don't approve of them supporting NuLabour.

Is it worth paying the £10.00 a month for the Plus account?

Well, it isn't worth it for me - you must make up your own mind.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Margaret

pinkkaz

Yes, I have one, mainly because Halifax had terrible customer service so I wanted to leave! I like Smile for its ethics and its customer service. It doesn't have the best interest rates in the world, but since I never have a lot of money in there I don't really care!

I don't have the plus account. I think as a rule these things are usually a bit of a rip-off and largely unused.

SparciaM

I used to work and bank with smile.

I've switched over to First Direct, since they kept reducing their interest rates. When I started working there it was at 4% now it's only 2.78%, their ISAs and Savings have gone down also.

The smilemore account isn't worth the money at all. You can get every cheaper elsewhere.

Tip for you: If you go on holiday in the middle of the month, upgrade to smilemore (so you get the travel insurance) then downgrade before end of month and you wont have to pay Says you £10 a time and you get free travel insurance.

Customer service is not what it used to be. I left as they were splitting the call centre up into service centre and a sales centre. Sales centre had more people than service and they expect a sale on every call.

Overall I've never had a problem with them, but their service is dropping, espcially since the CFS merger.

If you've never had a FD account, go to them. You get £100 to join and £500 OD, first £250 interest free. I get my salary paid in and then transfer all to an e-savings account and then transfer back when I hit -£250, so I technically have a current account paying me 5.25% interest.

Penelope_Penguin

I have a Smile account and have no problems with it. The upgrade wasn't worth it for me.

wyebird

I like the current account, but didn't see the point of upgrading. I like the fact you can use the post office to deposit and withdraw which is handy when you live in a rural village.

margaretclare

SparciaM wrote: »

I used to work and bank with smile.

I've switched over to First Direct, since they kept reducing their interest rates. When I started working there it was at 4% now it's only 2.78%, their ISAs and Savings have gone down also.

The smilemore account isn't worth the money at all. You can get every cheaper elsewhere.

Tip for you: If you go on holiday in the middle of the month, upgrade to smilemore (so you get the travel insurance) then downgrade before end of month and you wont have to pay Says you £10 a time and you get free travel insurance.

Customer service is not what it used to be. I left as they were splitting the call centre up into service centre and a sales centre. Sales centre had more people than service and they expect a sale on every call.

Overall I've never had a problem with them, but their service is dropping, espcially since the CFS merger.

If you've never had a FD account, go to them. You get £100 to join and £500 OD, first £250 interest free. I get my salary paid in and then transfer all to an e-savings account and then transfer back when I hit -£250, so I technically have a current account paying me 5.25% interest.

Thanks for this. They may not like it that I haven't got any 'earned' income, some banks don't, but then I have a decent amount of pensions income. Will see what they say.

Margaret

M_Thomson

Don't forget from this year, there is now a £20 arrangement fee every year when you renew your arranged overdraft.

realaledrinker

SparciaM wrote: »

I've switched over to First Direct, since they kept reducing their interest rates.

Thought FD abolised credit interest on their current accounts and don't pay any interest at all on savings in any month you make a withdrawal??

If you go on holiday in the middle of the month, upgrade to smilemore (so you get the travel insurance) then downgrade before end of month and you wont have to pay Says you £10 a time and you get free travel insurance.

But this only works if you book at the last minute. Most people pay balance of holiday 10 weeks before departure therefore need to be covered at that point, if not sooner. I follow the same dodge but switch from current to smilemore when I pay the holiday balance & back again on return.

Customer service is not what it used to be.

Well they came second in the Watchdog poll (admittedly after FD) - If 96% are still 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' , I think you are being a bit unkind there.

SparciaM

FD don't give credit interest on their current account, that is why I keep my current account money in the everyday e-savings account, so I earn 5.25% interest.

The only account you lose interest on by making a withdrawal is the e-savings account, but they don't do this for new customers anymore.

When I've gone on holiday, I've always booked my travel insurance to start on the day I travel to the day I come back. Why would you need travel insurance from the day you book? (is that to cover you if there is a cancellation or something?)

Customer service is dropping. Smile used to be amazing for customer service compared to other banks, but since bringing in sales people (not service people) it has dropped. Still better than most, but not as good as it used to be. I had to send 4 secure messages to ask the same question as they never answered it. Obviously, it was probably a one off and they were having a bad day.

smile internet site, is MILES better than FD site. FD site is terrible, really confusing and has way too much information on it, should be much simplier and easier to use.

I would bank with smile, but I get more for my money with FD, so that's why I switched, but I would go back to smile in a heartbeat if I needed another account. Smile or FD are the way to go.

StretfordEnder6899

SparciaM wrote: »

FD don't give credit interest on their current account, that is why I keep my current account money in the everyday e-savings account, so I earn 5.25% interest.

The only account you lose interest on by making a withdrawal is the e-savings account, but they don't do this for new customers anymore.

When I've gone on holiday, I've always booked my travel insurance to start on the day I travel to the day I come back. Why would you need travel insurance from the day you book? (is that to cover you if there is a cancellation or something?)

Customer service is dropping. Smile used to be amazing for customer service compared to other banks, but since bringing in sales people (not service people) it has dropped. Still better than most, but not as good as it used to be. I had to send 4 secure messages to ask the same question as they never answered it. Obviously, it was probably a one off and they were having a bad day.

smile internet site, is MILES better than FD site. FD site is terrible, really confusing and has way too much information on it, should be much simplier and easier to use.

I would bank with smile, but I get more for my money with FD, so that's why I switched, but I would go back to smile in a heartbeat if I needed another account. Smile or FD are the way to go.

I'm not sure how long ago you left smile, but the service centre isn't split between sales and customer service anymore. All advisers on the floor perform the same roles, apart from a new 'loan' team that was created about a week ago.

As for sending in 4 messages, surely you know that there are backlogs with the messages? More customers have joined the bank and staffing levels haven't increased. Customers are phoning the bank, when they could be actioning things online. More calls = less time to answer secure messages. Sending in 4 won't help matters!

The First Direct website must be pretty poor though if smile's is better.