Smile Current Account Review

Posted: 12 October 2007 by Simon Birch

Smile's online current account is the UK's only internet bank that guarantees your money won't be used to fund dodgy companies. Launched in 1999 by the Co-operative Bank, 'smile' uses the same stringent, ethical policies first introduced by the Co-op in 1992, the world's first bank to launch such an initiative.

By refusing to lend to businesses involved in everything from animal testing for cosmetics to the extraction of climate-changing fossil fuels, smile's ethical policy has become the toughest of any internet bank. No other online bank comes close to its ethical stance, so smile still sets the ethical benchmark for the sector.

While its ethical policy is beyond dispute, does it actually deliver on service? Well, the fact that it regularly scoops up awards for customer satisfaction from the likes of The Guardian and Which? suggests a resounding 'yes'.

For daily use, the design of the site is fresh, bright and a doddle to navigate. Logging on, paying bills, transferring funds and setting up direct debits and standing orders are all a cinch. And for those new to online banking and twitchy about making the jump from the high street, help is available 24/7 in the form of a low-cost, 0870 call to smile's UK support team.

If you want your money to knuckle down and really work for you, though, you may be disappointed with smile's mid-range 3.04 per cent interest rate. You can find better rates elsewhere, such as with market leader Coventry First, operated by the Coventry Building Society, which offers 6.35 per cent on its online current account. Still, smile's interest rate is more generous than the 0 per cent First Direct customers will be getting from November.

Smile's conditions state that to have an account you must pay a regular amount (for example a wage, salary or pension) each month into your account, although there is no minimum to this amount. 

You won't exactly be cracking open the champagne over the rates and fees for overdrafts, but then again you won't hit the deck with shock either -- they're okay. Oh, and another minor quibble -- you can't generate statement pages into PDF/Excel files.

Whinges aside, if you want your online current account to be tough on ethics and hot on customer service, smile will leave you grinning.