smile.co.uk Reviews

I first became a member of SMILE in 2004 as I was keen to have bank access to suit the needs of my busy day. SMILE was my first choice of internet bank as I was aware that they had an excellent customer reputation and importantly to me also, they only invested in ethical practices with their money. This made them smaller than the big ...  Read the complete review

We use smile for all of our day to day banking as well as savings and only have good things to say about them. Their website is easy to use and navigate around and it is very convenient to just be able to pop onto it to set up a transfer or payment. All past payments are stored making it even easier to make later payments to the same place. ...  Read the complete review

I have been a smile.co.uk customer for well over 3 years. Smile.co.uk is part of The Co-operative Group and Bank. I used to work as a trainer for Co-op and would cover the different business areas on employees Inductions. I would talk about smile.co.uk and all the benefits of using Internet banking generally and more specifically what sets ...  Read the complete review

I have had a smile current account for about 5 years now, when me and my husband moved in together this was the joint account that we opened. We have had the Smilemore account for a short while, but soon changed back to the regular (and free) current account as we found the benefits such as breakdown cover and travel insurance etc weren't being ...  Read the complete review

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 ...  Read the complete review

I have been a Smile customer for 5 years, having a Current Account and Visa Credit card. Until the last year or so I was very impressed with them - any questions were dealt with on the secure message service promptly and efficiently. The phone service was also good, extremely friendly and courteous. However, recently I have noticed an increase in ...  Read the complete review

With banks, there is always more than two arguments as to whether the account is right for you. My side is for someone that has always been in credit and never used the overdraft facility. The account was opened probably 5 or 6 years ago and I was suprised how easy this was. They supply you with a chequebook and a debit ...  Read the complete review

I've been with smile since November 2005 also and I have to say things are really getting worse. They used to be excellent, not now.

I've recently moved home. I asked for a temporary overdraft increase. It was refused. As a result I've wracked up failed payment charges of over £200. Each £30 charge is for a failed debit of around £10-20. Ridiculous. They told me if I think I'm going to go over the authorised limit to contact them, well I have and I just seem to be going in circles! This month will be very hard financially with big moving costs, so I requested the increase again - and refused again on the basis 'of my recent current account conduct'.

I've complained about the charges also and told in a round-a-bout way to get lost and read the T&C's. The challenge is finding them on their website!!!

Smile.co.uk-AVOID-Overdraft 15.9AER,£20 annual charge(if your overdraft isn't £500) I've also had my Smile Account for 8 years since Oct 99, when it first opened. It hasn't changed much in terms of the interface - it hasn't needed to - its perfect, except small points mentioned above. The customer service by phone is fantastic, but ...  Read the complete review

I moved to Smile Internet Bank in November 2005. There was a promotional offer at the time for a case of wine but this was never received. Direct debits and standing orders were supposed to be set up by Smile but I had to do half of them for myself, despite Smile assuring me that they had been done. This included my mortgage payment! I ...  Read the complete review

I have never had any problems with Smile at all and would recommend them to anyone. I joined them approximately 2 years ago following the end of an IVA I had completed. They seemed to be one of the only banks that wanted to give me a chance to prove myself now as "money trusted" and were so helpful it was great. My application ...  Read the complete review

I was seduced by Smile Bank's assurance that transferring my current account with all my DD's and my account balance to them would be painless and would take 14 days or less. Nearly three months later the Smile account is still not active and they've closed my old HSBC account. I'm now in a financial limbo - DD's are being bounced, I ...  Read the complete review

It doesn't matter if your a big or a small account holder everyone is treated with the same curtisy. Their current accounts are easy to manage and I love the way they email you to let you know when your statements have been updated, so much easier than waiting for the post or having to visit the cash machine. Which brings me to another point, cash ...  Read the complete review

Like so many people my first current account was with one of the 'big four' who dominated retail banking in the UK for so long. I chose Barclays - largely on the basis that my brother worked for them and their branch was close to my house. In late 2000 however my attention was caught by smile - a bank only a year old and offering ...  Read the complete review

I came to choose this bank for my first student account because of its ethical policy and the raft of good reviews and awards it has recieved. Boy, was that a stupid decision. Firstly I wanted to be sure I was eligable for an account; I'm not yet 18, but I needed an account for my student support application. Their website was confusing ...  Read the complete review

As someone who errs slightly towards trades unionism, and the like I decided to switch my current account to the newest offering from the Co-Operative bank, Smile. Now, I should point out that I am a mere 18 years old, getting hold of a decent current account through banks is a bit of a pain, I earn less than £6,000 a year as a sales ...  Read the complete review

I will be very non-PC in this review, I am warning you. Everybody is raving about Smile, aren`t they? Especially the ethically minded, politically conscious folk.... Smile IS an Internet-branch of Co-Operative bank and thus is considered to be a much better thing in ethical stakes than the let`s say the corporate horror that is ...  Read the complete review

People that have read a few of my last reviews may have noticed that I?ve been having a little problem with my car. Well it?s kind of turned into quite a big problem now that is going to cost about £800 to sort out. It?s a pain in the proverbial as I?m on the summer hols and I had lots planned. Unfortunately, I can ...  Read the complete review

Smile makes me smile. - Advantages: Ethical., High interest rates on current and savings accounts., Smooth service. - Disadvantages: High overseas credit card charges., Online banking pages could be improved.

I love Smile. Often, I want to cuddle them. They were the bank that was invented for me. First: internet banking. No messing about here, it's fast and easy. If you have a current account, loan account, credit card, ISA, savings account - they're all accessible from the same screen. Transferring money or paying bills is a doddle. ...  Read the complete review