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2024 winners have been announced - View the winners here

Frequently asked questions

We've compiled a list of frequently asked questions to help you navigate the process and get the information you need.

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Entering

How can my company take part?

Please email [email protected]. We’ll let you know the next steps and if you’re a customer-facing provider, we’ll make sure you have a review page set up on our Smart Money People website.

How much does it cost to take part?

There's no entry cost – it’s completely free.

Who’s eligible to enter?

The awards are open to all financial companies working within the UK banking industry.

Can we enter more than one category?

Yes. You can enter as many different categories as you’re eligible for. Please speak with a member of our team if you’re unsure which category to enter.

Voting

When does voting start?

Voting opens on 13 January 2025 at 10am and closes on 22 April 2025 at 11:59pm.

Between the 13 January and the 30 March 2025 at 11:59pm, customers can vote for any company they choose, and their reviews determine our finalist shortlist.

On 2 April 2025, we’ll confirm the finalist shortlist, based on the voting to date. Customers can continue to vote for finalists until voting closes on 22 April. All eligible reviews during the period 13 January to 22 April will be counted.

What’s the voting process?

Your company will need to register and have a review page on the Smart Money People website. Once you’ve let us know what category you want to enter, you’ll then be given a link to share with your customers, who can leave a review for your company. All eligible reviews left on the Smart Money People site are then counted as votes. That's it! From landing on the page, to leaving a review, it should take two minutes or less.

What personal data do we capture?

We ask voters their name and to provide an email address. This helps us validate votes and communicate with the winner of our prize draw. We don’t capture any account-specific information, nor do we share this data with third parties. Full details can be found on our privacy notice.

Who can vote?

For most categories, customers who are UK residents and aged 18 years and over are eligible to vote and will be entered into our prize draw.

The only exception is for the ‘Best children’s financial provider’ category, where the minimum voting age is 16 years and over.

Are employees allowed to vote?

To keep the process fair, employees (or friends and families of employees) aren’t allowed to review the company they work for, or leave a review for a direct competitor.

Can customers vote multiple times?

A customer can vote by leaving a review multiple times for different companies, or the one company, across different categories. However, if a customer leaves a review to vote for the same company and category multiple times, only one review will be eligible.

Can companies incentivise customers to vote?

To keep the process fair, we don’t allow companies to incentivise their customers to leave a review and vote. If any activity like this is discovered, any reviews received during the period of the promotion will not be eligible as a vote.

How does the £1,000 prize competition work?

We’ll randomly select a winner from all customers who leave an eligible review during the voting period. Our terms and conditions are available here.

How do you detect ineligible voting?

We work hard to make sure the results of our awards are fair, robust, and a reflection of the current state of play in the industry. We've honed a robust validation process to spot suspect voting.

How are winners decided?

Our awards are one of the few awards in the industry solely based on customer feedback. To determine the winners, we factor in a wide range of the review data we receive, to give a comprehensive view of the companies and reflect broad customer opinion. The exceptions are the customer service and treating customers fairly categories, where winners are decided based on data captured for these specific questions (excluding partner awards).

When are the winners announced?

Winners will be announced at our gala event, which will be held in central London on 22 May 2025. Please visit our events page for more information and ticket details.

Sponsoring

Can my company sponsor an award?

We have a range of sponsorship packages available. If you’re interested in sponsoring an award, or the event itself, please contact us at [email protected] and we'll send you our sponsorship pack. You can also visit our sponsorship page.

Attending the awards

How much does it cost to attend the event?

Our events page provides an overview of the most popular award evening packages. Please contact us if you wish to discuss a bespoke package.