Expensive Overseas Transaction Surcharges (Smile)

Member Name: kxjan

Product:	Smile
Date:	29/08/03 (300 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: pays 0.5% cashback, ethical, online accounting

Disadvantages: high overseas transaction surcharge, even higher overseas cash advance charge 3%

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 easy to switch banks and i'm very happy with their service.

Apart from the overseas charges, the credit card is ok. It pays 0.5% cashback on all purchases and i'm happy to know that the profits made my Coop bank aren't going to fund arms manufacturers for example.

I would encourage Smile to remove overseas transactions surcharges because basically they amount to robbery. In the world of high finance how can it possibly really cost them more if I pay in Euros rather than Sterling? Certainly not 3% more.

In the Smile world ethics seem to be important. I get the impression that generally Smile are less likely to rob me (via "charges" and "interest") than other banks. The overseas charges are the one unfortunate exception.

(These figures approx correct, July 2003.)

Summary: