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Smile Bank: Current Account reviews

Name: Current Account
Rating: 3.87 (104 reviews)

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3.83

Based on 104 reviews, last reviewed 5th Apr 2025

No new 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

No new 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

56%

19%

21%

Latest highest rating:

5

Secure Online portal . Online portal works perfectly, feels secure. Reviewed on: 5th April 2025

Latest lowest rating:

1

Failing to provide an adequate service have been a customer for almost 25 years, and service now seems to be at the worst level in all of that time. Anything more than a nominal payment wit... Read more Reviewed on: 19th March 2024

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About this product

Smile Bank is an ethical online bank. Its Current Account doesn’t charge a monthly fee and is available for individuals and as a joint account. Every Smile Current Account comes with a £500 overdraft. Applicants must be eligible for the overdraft to open the account.

Considering opening an account with Smile Bank? Find out what existing customers have to say first. Discover the ins and outs of the account by reading the Smile Current Account reviews on Smart Money People.

Find out more about the sign-up process for this online bank. Learn how long customers have had their accounts with Smile Bank and how satisfied they are with the Current Account. Find out the pros and cons of the account and what people think of the bank’s customer service team. Make an informed decision about your new account by reading our Smile Bank Current Account reviews.

If you have a Current Account with Smile Bank, take a moment to share your experience with others. Tell us how long you’ve had your account open and whether this is your main bank account. What is your favourite feature of the account and is there anything that you feel could be improved? Have you encountered any issues with the account, and if so, how well were they resolved? Would you recommend the account to your family and friends? Whether good or bad, write an honest Smile Bank Current Account review today. Together, we can help others like you make better financial decisions.

Smile Bank Current Account reviews (104)

Review of the Smile Bank, Current Account:

Disgraceful banking service

I’m likely to be taking my issues with smile to financial services ombudsman. Today, I contacted the number on my smile banking app about a disputed or fraudulent payment. The customer service operator refused to help, citing that I need to log my concern via livechat / webchat. I tried explaining that I don’t have easy access to undertake such process, I get easily anxious with unfamiliar websites. I also don’t find it easy to articulate myself in written form, I have dyslexia. It takes lots of preparation for me to form something in writing. I personally don’t feel confortable using webchat or live chat (as smile call it) When I tried explaining this over the phone to his manager he was dismissive and not prepared to take my learning difficulty into consideration. Im saying this as non-verbatim recollection of the call, but he suggested cause “him and his son are dyslexic then, I shouldn’t have any issues with using website” - I’m genuinely confused what relevance this had with me struggling to use the web chat facility. He was very dismissive of my problems and anxiety. I was questioned on my motives for opening an ‘internet’ bank which I’ve had open for many, many years. This manager refused to consider my condition and assist me any further over phone. Despite having a smile account for many years, I have never used this webchat facility. I simply wanted them to understand my condition and current position. I’m having to escalate this matter to the complaints procedure and then the ombudsman. I feel very upset and let down by smile and the coop bank - they preach ethical practice. However, my experience today is anything but ethical. I’m going to get some guidance on my recent experience with smile, on what I view as possible discrimation. I’m also interested in understanding my rights with accessing my data over the telephone, whenever I satisfy the identification process, this I’ll take up with the ICO. My advice - Its better to use a bank service that you can communicate over the telephone, especially if you are like me anxious with using an instant webchat service. Smile always offered telephone support for general queries and since they have taken that facility away. It’s a banking service is substandard. This use to be an amazing bank, with today’s experience, I will be looking to leave smile and coop for ethical reasons. I recommend anyone reading this review to avoid opening a bank account with the coop and smile. Just read at all the reviews and the disappointed customers, that should give you an indication this is a substandard bank that has lost its way. I still haven’t resolved my query relating to the disputed / or potentially fraudulent payments I hope coop / smile take some learnings from the customer dissatisfaction and improve its service. They need to deal with telephone banking enquiries when they arise and listen to people’s concerns without dismissing them out of hand. I was once very loyal to Smile and the Coop bank. I will instead be leaving them after today’s experience! Reviewed on: 13th June 2018

Should you trust the reviews on Smart Money People?

I do not think Smile is a good bank. I have used them for a very long time and so I think I know them pretty well. I think I have been generous in giving them 2 stars, but there are probably some banks that are actually worse than Smile. What I find amazing is how the reviews on Smart Money People can so easily distort things. There are 74 reviews and 12 of the 5 star reviews are written by two people (Peter Saville and Tina J Grant). So the average score given by Smart Money People is 4 stars. However if you look at all of the reviews posted in the last 12 months (none of which are by Peter or Tina), the score drops to 2 stars. What a hopelessly misleading review website Smart Money People appears to be! My conclusion is that you probably shouldn't trust the scores on this site. Reviewed on: 11th July 2022

Hopeless Customer Service

Tried to contact Smile over unrecognisable debit for £90. Gave up on their phone line after an interminable wait. Equally unsuccessful on their Secure Message system which does not fulfil promise of a reply in 24 hrs. Reviewed on: 9th May 2022

Enough is enough

I have been banking with Smile almost since it started. But the dreadful waits for customer service on the phone and the very poor capabilities of the website. Reviewed on: 5th May 2022

shocking lack of responsibility for money missing in their system

€ 3000 euros was paid into my account from Belgium but never showed up. Endless messages (from me) either met with incomprehension or, most recently, a refusal even to try to trace the money. My offers to give them information that might help, if they could tell me what they needed, were not answered. Impossible to get through on the phone. A next day letter was never answered. Nearly three weeks later, I am at a loss how to proceed. Any ideas? Reviewed on: 14th April 2022

Poor customer service, outdated website

Impossible to get through on the phone, the website is archaic and poor. Additional security often required after log in and to undertake tasks. Very trigger happy to block cards and slow to release on suspicion of fraud. They may be ethical but they are crap! Reviewed on: 11th April 2022

Simple online banking

I’ve been with SMILE for several years. I am a pensioner so need simple IT. The website is simply laid out. I like that I can do my banking online from home. I rarely receive cheques, but if I do, I can easily pay it into my SMILE account at my local Post Office. Reviewed on: 4th April 2022

What has happened?

Shockingly bad customer service Payments being blocked No indication from smile they they’re blocked 1 hour wait on the phone Messaging doesn’t work I now have a missed payment on my credit report because of this bank I’ve been with them for 20 years and this is what I’m getting Awful Reviewed on: 2nd April 2022

Reliable, consistent service

always good service, reliable portal, secure and prompt replies to any query. Reviewed on: 30th March 2022

Like a parody of an online bank.

Consistently awful in almost every way imaginable. It's like they have made a commitment to being hard work. The App has so many missing features and functionality compared to the competition and despite frequently being off line for maintenance, never really gets much better. In terms of ease of communication, couldn't actually be worse. I used the Starling App today for instant live chat, no problems, no wait. This however isn't an option on the Smile App, literally no option to message your bank via the App. It does tell you that you can use the online banking option to message them though and they will respond within 72 hours..... Nearly laughable, but not funny. Should you be unfortunate enough to need to phone them you'd do well to make a flask of coffee first as it's going to be a marathon event. It look an hour and ten minutes today to check a transaction and change my address. The lady I spoke to seemed to confused as to how to do it and told me I could do it online if I wanted. I told her seeing as I was 50 minutes into the call I'd like to just finish doing it over the phone. When I had an issue with a scam purchase abroad, they look months and got got nowhere. Want to pay a cheque in via the App, like every other bank? Nope.. Want to pay it in over the counter, also nope as they have closed most branches. So you'll have to go to the post office and hope they have a paying in envelope, because when they say they will send you some it's actually just not happening. They will not actually answer some queries if you phone and tell you they are an online bank, but don't have credible alternatives to communicate with. No idea how they can still operate. Reviewed on: 16th March 2022

Ethical bank, easy to use online

I like the values of Smile, and their ethical policies. My account is easy to use online and I can find answers to any questions I have. Reviewed on: 15th March 2022

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