Smile with smile bank (smile.co.uk)

Member Name: vazaa50

Product:	smile.co.uk
Date:	10/12/08 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: many

Disadvantages: none

Smile is an internet bank but is owned by the Co-operative bank. It seemed to spring up around 10 years ago as the internet grew in popularity and became more widely available. I have been banking with Smile for around 6 or 7 years now. Initially we only had a credit card with them but after a couple of years we decided to switch over to them completely.

Originally we were attracted to Smile due to their low interest rates for credit cards and the large amount of benefits they seem to offer. We found the credit card to be very good so when we found out about their 'Smile More' account we decided to make this our current account. The Smile More account is a normal current account with some added benefits. You may a monthly fee (currently £12) but for this you get an interest free £260 overdraft (and fee free up to £500), reduced rate of interest on your loans and credit cards and an increased amount of interest on any savings accounts you have. You also get some extras like travel insurance, Green Flag breakdown cover and discounts with some shops/websites. This is all pretty good for £12 a month! They also offer a standard current account if you prefer as well as mortgages, loans, savings, ISA's, etc.

The other thing that appealed to us about Smile was their customer service and ease of use. As they are an internet bank, they don't have any branches. Instead, you can send cheque pay-ins by post or pay-in cheques and cash at any Post Office. If you need to contact the bank you can do so very easily by the secure messaging service on the web or by phone. The internet banking site is also extremely easy to use and navigate and I've found it to be much better than similar internet banks such as Egg. Any time we've needed to contact the bank they have been very quick to reply and extremely helpful and efficient.

I wrote this on helphound.com aswell.

Summary: Internet banking made easy