Smile

It was satisfying leaving Barclays and opening my Smile account with its ethical policy and pledge not to offshore any of its operations, however this has come at a price. Smile charges a high fee for withdrawals overseas compared to Barlcays who allowed fee free withdrawals at selected banks, and Nationwide who very kindly don't charge no matter which machine you use. Smile's internet banking site is dreadful to use and loads in a huge screen allowing colleagues, friends and family -even the next door neighbour at the right angle, to view all your details. The online statements contain very little information so you're left wondering if a ...  Read the complete review

Smile is such a nice bank but their overseas surcharges are out of character. When i draw out 200Euro i have pay an extra 6Euro to Smile. When i pay 200Euro in a shop the actual cost is about 204Euro. That's my cash dissappearing, and my smile too. Smile should take the market lead and stop overseas surcharges. Other banks are only slightly better. They typically charge 2.5% for cash advance. Otherwise i'm happy with Smile. For ethical reasons i switched from NatWest to Smile a few months ago. Now I use all of Smile's services -- Smilemore Current Account, Savings, Cash ISA and Ethical Funds mini ISA -- and Smile credit card. It was ...  Read the complete review

I've had a Smile Credit Card for over a year now and haven't regretted changing it from my Alliance & Leicester Cashback Card. I've used the card abroad with no problems and on the two occasions I've had to contact customer services, my problems were sorted out promptly and with no fuss. I always look for 'cashback' cards and pay the balance at the end of the month, so was drawn to Smile because of the Cooperative Bank's ethical stance. You can find out more about that online, but basically, The Co-op Bank are not involved with governments or businesses that don't uphold basic Human Rights, or are involved in the Arms Trade, ...  Read the complete review

Well named - Advantages: 5 month free balance transfer, Easy to contact and friendly, very efficient - Disadvantages: None at all

I like Smile. In the past few months, I've opened a current account, a savings account, an ISA and now a Visa credit card account, and it's just so easy. Once the bank has got your details (you'll have to send off some personal details to prove who you are), it's very easy to manage your money efficiently. Smile is the Internet banking arm of the Co-Operative Bank. They have a very strong ethical policy (details on their website) which is very good to see in these days of corporate sleaze and greed. At the moment, the credit card is charging 0% interest for the first 6 months which reverts to 9.9% (10.5% if you ...  Read the complete review