A breath of fresh air (Intelligent Finance)

Member Name: Trixi

Product:	Intelligent Finance
Date:	11/12/04 (868 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good Interest rates, Good customer service

Disadvantages: None so far

Banks....we all have stories about banks.... and lets face it if there is anything to moan about this is one of the top topics that people like to moan about. Well this review is not going to be a moaning review.

I must admit it is not going to be too technical. I am not that good with AER and the like.

Intelligent Finance is an internet only bank based in Scotland,and is a subsidary of the Halifax. (I guess that means that they are now part of the Bank of Scotland too, now that they have merged)

Let me fill you in and give you a bit of background.
I opened up an account with Intelligent Finance about 6 months ago because I had received a lump sum from a Term Assurance. My plan for my term assurance when I was 20, was to go to Australia and see family, but alas 10 years on and plans changed. I have recently retrained but up until then I worked as a part time shop assistant and when most people know that providing decent pensions are not that great in retail.

So I had the lump sum and I spoke to a financial adviser friend about setting up a pension.
I was thinking about a stakeholder pension. To my surprise my financial adviser advised against that idea. (I had my first child last year and moved house 24 hours later.) My friend said at this time of my life he recommended I look into an ISA . This allows type of account allows you to save up to £3000 a year, gives a good interest rate but also allows access to your money. ( Currently 5.10% AER/Gross Variable) By the way AER means the total interest paid on your savings or current account. (The Intelligent Finance website has a good jargon busting page with definitions.) This means at my time of life with a young family I can get access to my money if I wanted to, which is why my friend advised this over a pension.

Staring the account was easy, I simply logged onto the website www.if.com and applied online, I filled out all the necessary information and they then sent out all the documents to confirm details, send it back and then my first deposit was directly transferred into the account. (Oh you have to provide proof of identity too, but you can do this by getting a cashier at a local branch of the Halifax to verify your documents.) Due to the fact that Intelligent Finance is an internet only account, you do have to have a linked account at another bank or building society, so that you can make deposits and withdrawals. ( This can be with any bank)

Intelligent Finance operates a scheme called jars which means that if you have more that one kind of account i.e. a current account or mortgage, they can be separate but also offset against one another, so that you can benefit by switching money or interest to benefit you.

I will be honest and say I don't really understand that fully because it doesn't apply to my situation. But perhaps other dooyooers can explain that better.

The website is easy and has a relatively good system for security. When you apply you have to give various details and choose a username and password.

To Log in you need to know these details and answer a question ( the answer you have supplied on application) The question is one of about 5 possible questions and it tends to change with each log in (so it adds to security) You have 3 attempts to get the information right, if you don't then it will require you to call the customer service centre to reactivate your account. Whenever I have phoned the centre they have been very helpful and dealt promptly to my problem.

All in all they have been great. Good interest rates, flexibility, good security, and good customer service.

A breath of fresh air .

Summary: