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Smile Bank: Current Account reviews

Name: Current Account
Rating: 3.87 (104 reviews)

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3.79

Based on 104 reviews, last reviewed 5th Apr 2025

100% increase in 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:

The joyless remnant of a formerly great bank

signed up to smile in 2002 when the bank was exceptional. Good rate of interest on savings, modest rate on credit cards and loans, a non-punitive approach to bank charges and never any reason to call customer service. A few years ago the overdraft facility was removed on one of my accounts in spite of it being the account that my wages were paid into. I recently had the overdraft facility reinstated (which took about half an hour on the phone ironically) as they had started hitting me with daily fines every time a direct debit caused me to be overdrawn even for a few hours, but I am still getting hit with "service charges" even when I am still in credit and I don't have anyone to speak to about this apart from the chatbot entities on the website. In addition to this their website login page fails from time to time which, given their recent restrictions on customer service, means there is sometimes no service at all. Nobody to talk to and no branch to visit. Smile fail to acknowledge that the withdrawal of telephone support has been a massively unpopular move with their long-standing customers. In the absence of any meaningful PR communications I have to conclude that smile is failing financially and is now gradually but deliberately driving people away from what must now be an unprofitable appendage of the Co-op Bank. Anyway, it's worked. They've abandoned everything that made them a great bank and now they're a joyless remnant resorting to service charges and minimal customer service. I was a happy customer in 2002 but there's no longer anything to smile about. Time to change banks. Reviewed on: 3rd July 2018

Secure Online portal .

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

Not so easy to contact recently

They used to be very easy to contact but the last few times that I have tried to contact them I have either had to wait ages on the phone or else they tell me that they are closed. There is no ability to 'chat' with them and there is no possibility of them answering a question if it is at a weekend. Reviewed on: 9th March 2025

I'm happy with it - good service

I'm happy with it - good service Reviewed on: 3rd March 2025

The original internet bank.

The original internet bank...and still goid Reviewed on: 5th February 2025

A truly Ethical Bank for the Common Good.....

I have been with Smile Bank aka Co op bank for many years. I have always found it effective adventurous, notably as the first internet bank. Few branches I agree but the Post Office provides access to cash if needed. I sincerely hope the arrangement with the Coventry Building Society is fulfilled. The outcome will be supet ethical. Reviewed on: 24th May 2024

Ethical Bank that does not invest in arms trade or a...

Ethical Bank that does not invest in arms trade or anything unethical. Reviewed on: 13th April 2024

A bank with ethics and great digital access

Easy to use current account via a mobile app, online banking, branch and access via Post Office. Via online banking the secure messaging is efficient and convenient. The account has an automatic £500 overdraft which is helpful. Good ethical bank, part of The Co-operative Bank. Reviewed on: 3rd April 2024

Smile - ethical, helpful, good comms

Smile are ethical, helpful and has good communication with customers Reviewed on: 26th March 2024

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 with a debit or credit card to a new or occasional payee is stopped, due to overly cautious fraud prevention controls. There are very long delays when calling customer service (an hour or more is common), and menus are unduly cumbersome to get to call handler. However, I have found call handlers are helpful and polite if you have the time and patience to wait for someone to become available. Responses from online messaging normally take days, rather than hours. App and online banking are both unreliable, with frequent and long-lasting outages, with no proper indication of timescale for availability. What were once class-leading interfaces were overtaken by competitors some time ago. Reviewed on: 19th March 2024

Staff always polite and professional no matter how b...

Staff always polite and professional no matter how busy they are. Great customer service, free joint account, they issue a chequebook. It meets all my banking needs and the bank has an ethical contract with customers. It ticks all my boxes when it comes to banking needs. Reviewed on: 17th March 2024

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