Smile makes me happy (smile.co.uk)

Member Name: el Scorcho

Product:	smile.co.uk
Date:	13/08/02 (263 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Bank anytime, anywhere (well, anywhere with net access), better interest rate than other current accounts, cute books and cards, and no queueing!

Disadvantages: Relying on fickle technology - keep your computer in a good mood

I've had my Smile current account for about a year now - I opened it because I thought it would be useful to be able to find out my balance at home (or any other computer come to that, but I normally only use my own computer), especially since at the time I was living in a village with only a pub and a post office to speak of. No cash machines... Oh, and the interest rate was infinitely better too.
Filling out the application form was quick and quite easy - if I made a mistake or left something out it was highlighted for me to correct. And you choose a few security questions on top of your PIN number to answer when you log in to your account, and to use when you phone in, so you keep your PIN secret. Once that was done it was a case of waiting a while until they decided I was worthy of their services. I received a goody pack from them through the post quite quickly, with a fetching bright pink chequebook, and a lime green paying-in book decorated with the cheshire cat grinning away. Beats grey every time. It also had envelopes for paying in cheques at the post office or by post, a few of each to start you off. After that you can order more of them online, along with all the other stationery you might possibly need to sort your money out. I also like my shiny new debit card too, it's blue, pink, and smiley, so makes spending all the more fun (or less painful depending on what it is). :) Shallow yes, but why shouldn't cards come in nice colours? If you don't want to receive all the other kinds of paperwork that banks seem to send on a regular basis (ie junk mail), you can also opt-in or out of them contacting you in various ways, and stop them passing your post details on so you don't get it from other places either.
Since I've had the account I've switched a couple of direct debits over from my old student bank account, using their "transfer it all for you" scheme - with mixed success. One was for my phone bill,
which carried over fine, the other was my credit card which was part and parcel of my student account. I choose to pay off the full amount on the card each time to avoid paying interest (I hardly use it), so wanted to do the same on my smile account. The direct debit was cancelled fine, but it wasn't until I had used my card one time and was then sent a second statement still asking for the bill to be paid (plus interest), I realised all was not how it should be. However I rang the credit card people up, who checked over the progress of the transfer. They told me that they had received instructions from Smile to set up the new direct debit, but for one reason or another, it wasn't done. So they apologised, took the interest off, and I sent them a little pink cheque in the post to cover the original amount. And all has gone smoothly since. When I changed address I had to phone the helpline to update my contact details, and it couldn't have been easier.
The interest on the current account was around %4 when I opened mine, but has dropped since then because of cuts in the basic rate (or whatever it is that concerns everyone), but it is still a lot higher than I could find at the high street banks. On top of that, I don't have to queue anymore, yipee! I'm as happy as the cat on my paying-in book...

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