Smile UK Recenzje 

Absolutely horrendous experience with this bank, been with them a long time now and i thought they were supposed to help not block me all the time. Because i can't remember my memorable name they have no other questions they can ask me to make sure it's me??? Have spent the morning absolutely fuming. Am moving bank, First Direct or Monza seems a good choice. What has happened.......used to be a decent ethical bank

Same as the previous reviews. Ive been with smile for 20 years. The customer services used to be amazing, now it's useless. 2hr wait to speak to someone on the phone, who ofter has no idea what they're / cant help.
5 DAYS to reply to a secure message.
Im trying to use my phone insurance and the smile benefits page has been down all week. I pay for the insurance but can't use it.
Have sadly decided to change banks.

Pretty much echo what others have written. The technology is clunky and increasingly behind the times. I had a debit card transaction show on the terminal as approved but on the till, declined. Fortunately I'm a regular at the shop, so paid twice knowing that they'd refund me if necessary. The shop, sensibly, said look on your phone for transactions. Four days later it appeared on my account. That was the final straw and I now bank elsewhere.

UPDATE 19/07/23
Account switched and went smoothly, now with First Direct. 23 years I was with Smile and no attempt to keep me, just shows we are just numbers to some companies.
---------UPDATE END---------
Like other reviews Smile has gone downhill. Today was the last straw for me; I wanted to downgrade by account but the lady that took the csll did not have a clue what I meant and it took over 5 attempts for to understand my sort code. When I eventually got through to someone who could understand me he then had to read me loads of T and Cs for an overdraft he was cancelling anyway. Shame to leave after 20 years, but my loyalty has worn thin. Off to First Direct where my joint account is.

The bank stops every other transaction of mine for fraud checks. They do not get in touch to ask - or if they do it can take a full week. This can be upsetting if you've transferred a lot of money and it just disappears.
Your ONLY option is to phone one number - there is no separate phone line for fraud (apart from credit cards). The phone experience is so entirely degrading and appalling it feels like the bank are clearly saying they do not care. Phonelines are open from 9am - 5pm and ALWAYS warn you that they're experiencing "unusually" busy times: wait times could be 15 minutes they say. But I've never waited for less than 40 minutes. [I'm on hold now, as I type - and hey I just got through in 32 minutes! Win!].
During that time on hold you will hear a 25 second clip of music looped continuously, and be "thanked for your patience" over 80 times.
I have been cut off after an hour on hold - and no one ever phones back. This is clearly a policy. If you get through and ask them to phone you back for whatever reason they will not.
After 40 minutes on hold, once you get through you then have to get put through to the fraud dept. This is not quick and often means another 15 - 20 minutes on hold - again not anything you can skip. They will not call you back.
Having to spend an hour or two on the phone to the bank regularly (listening to that same 25 second loop of music, round and round!) seems unacceptable to me - but don't worry - there is another way - you can send them a message.
Not from your phone, only from the website on a desktop computer. So send them a "secure message" which is limited to 1000 characters - like it's a tweet?! - and they promise to get back to you within 5 days. This is concerning if you've had transactions stopped and are missing a significant amount of money. It's also pretty embarrassing if you're trying to pay someone or a business ( - "give me an hour or two, I'll just phone the bank again").
The rest of their services are fine. I mean a bank is a bank. Low interest rates on saving accounts etc, a banking app that feels a decade too old, inability to photograph cheques to deposit (why not pop along to the post office? Or, er, why not change bank?).
Smile / Co-op used to be ethical in their investments, they used pay decent interest, and the customer service used to be good.
I can't see how this bank will survive much longer with such awful awful service. I imagine, like me, the only customers they have are the ones too lazy to switch.
Perhaps I should switch? 🤣😭
Shamelessly bad.

Account takeover fraud and identity theft

I was a customer from 1999 when Smile was founded as the UK's first internet bank to 29 March 2023 when I switched my account. On 28 February, my bank account was hacked into despite being protected by both an 11 character strong password and 6 digit security code. The fraudster then used secure messaging to change my mobile number to his and my postal address to his without any verification checks by the bank. He stole all my money from both my savings account and current account up to my overdraft limit. Fortunately, Smile reimbursed me for my losses without delay as required by the Financial Conduct Authority. Since the fraudster had changed my details to his, I had to visit the nearest Cooperative Bank branch with proof of identity to reclaim control of my own bank account. The very next day, my current account was credited with £10,000, an unsecured loan solicited by the fraudster using my identity and bank account details. I assume that his plan was to abscond with the £10,000 leaving me to pick up the pieces. I contacted the loan company, as advised by Smile, and returned the loan by withdrawing from the loan agreement that the fraudster had made in my name, confirmed in a letter to me. The loan company has subsequently upheld my fraud allegation. I also received a letter from the Fraud Department of another loan company informing me that the loan application made by the fraudster in my name had been declined because some of the details he submitted did not tally. I decided that the only way to stop these fraudulent loan applications was to close my bank account as soon as possible and switch to a bank with access controls which are fit for purpose. I chose my new bank based on good Trustpilot reviews (the bank answers every single review), a personal recommendation and the fact that the online bank uses facial, device and voice recognition as proof of identity. Had Smile (Cooperative) Bank deployed these modern access controls, the fraudster would have been unable to commit the fraud in the way he did.

Sorting out the aftermath of this fraud required several phone calls to Customer Services. Wait times were in the range of 30 to 60 minutes. In comparison, my new bank answers my calls in less than 5 minutes.

I was without a service on my mobile phone for 6 weeks because my carrier had blacklisted my number. I assume that the fraudster reported my phone as either lost or stolen to my carrier so I was blacklisted. Despite several calls to my carrier, they kept assuming the the lack of service was due to faulty SIM cards. It was only when I visited the nearest Apple reseller that they informed me that I had been blacklisted by my carrier on the IMEI Checker.

According to Action Fraud, account takeover fraud is on the increase. As a Chartered Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor, I am well aware of the need for good internal controls. Smile's Fraud Department were unable to advise me how the fraudster had circumvented both my 11 character strong password and 6 digit security code. My advice to Smile (Cooperative Bank) is to invest in modern access controls as my new bank has to avoid losing customers like me. My advice to all readers of this review is not to assume that account takeover fraud only happens to individuals who are careless with their bank account details. I opened my first bank account at the age of 18 when I went up to Cambridge. At the age of 71, this is my first experience of account takeover fraud. My advice to you is to consider carefully how you can minimise the risk of it happening to you.

If you to want to find out the latest currency exchange rate, you actually have to ring their call centre. Good luck with that.

I was advised of a wait time of plus 30 minutes.

Surely this is something that should be online ?

I have been with smile for 20 years and am about to leave. They are the same bank they were 20 years ago when they were a new leader in online banking. They have not changed their website for 20 years apart from a few style changes and that leaves them way behind. How bad their online service is now is Unbelievable. The fact that their ratings here are so low seems to indicate they don't care....

Smile has to be the worst bank on record. I have now switched to First Direct, amazing service, great incentive to switch and an outstanding banking app that makes smile look like something from the dark ages. Smile was a great bank in 2003 in 2023 it ranks as the worst. I would never trust them with my money again.

Was a customer for over 20 years and can’t believe how down hill they have gone.
I’ve moved to the HSBC which was so easy!
Smile bank has zero customer STA times and I can’t even get into my app banking which has been like this for 3 months!
Avoid

Happens every year. End of tax year myself and my wife, both (for now) with separate current accounts and a shared account with Smile. We both make a transfer of £20000 (the ISA limit) to an investment company, the same one we've used for several years. Result, both accounts locked and unable to make any other transactions before an important deadline. This is really getting too much of a hassle and beyond a joke. At least I have another account with Starling who seem to know how to run a modern online bank. Maybe it's time to ditch Smile for both of us.

I've been a Smile customer for over 20 years. The app is okay, but lacks some functionality, including amending standing orders. You have to go online to do that, so I did, and got locked out, even though I reset my log in details only a few weeks ago. I got an email asking me to call Smile.
I've tried 4 times over three different days and told the wait time has been 30 minutes, 25 minutes, 30 minutes and 20 minutes (just before writing this). Each time the automated message says there has been a high call volume - isn't there always?
In addition to being locked out, I can't use my Smile card on a particular (legal and safe) website, even though there is money in my account. That is the second issue I need to talk to Smile about.
Secure messaging - says we have to allow 5 days for a reply!
So, it's hard to get to speak to someone but I notice that replies to reviews here are often quite quick.
I joined Smile as it is/was an ethical bank but am feeling disillusioned by the lack of accessibility and responsiveness to customer service and needs.

What has happened to this bank…had account over 15 years but not for much longer….still waiting over 1/2 hr to speak to someone…no live chat anymore….I can’t even send a secure messages as just says error…what error….horrendous service….was ringing as I can’t even use card online but never get through to anyone….whereas other banks you speak to someone straight away….terrible

Yet again no access to my account. I moved the bulk of my money to Nationwide last time they had a major outage. No worries with Nationwide. I will close my Smile account ASAP. They must be the worst internet bank in the UK

Whilst Smile may be the oldest internet bank in the UK, it seems a bit stuck in the past. Whilst I still use it for some pay ins & direct debits I don't think I've used it as my every day bank for about 3 or 4 years. My every day bank is now Starling which is light years ahead & better more efficient services & support. I kinda just keep Smile as an extra bank account now. 2 days running now I tried to login to the website & its down for maintenance. Not very sustainable way to run an online bank in this day & age of digital banking. 🤷

Have been with them since early days but recently their service and support has been abysmal. Different info on website compared to App. Misinformation about who I made a transfer to, complaints not properly followed up, responsibility for errors they make not acknowledged and arbitrarily closing complaints with no warning or agreement.
Secure messages take too long to answer and then often incorrect when they do reply.
Total shambles and will switch to First Direct.
This all follows an experience in September when my Verified by Visa stopped working when I was doing online shopping- was advised by the supermarket this was down to my bank so I used another card which uses VbV and it worked perfectly. Bank said it was because i had tried to make a purchase on Amazon which i had not authenticated so they froze my card. This was spurious as i had not made any purchase on Amazon for that amount at all. Bank re- authenticated my VbV after a long phone wait and big shout . Lodged a complaint— dismissed by bank who just closed it off without properly informing me so took matter to Ombudsman. Still ongoing.
When you do complain they wheel out meaningless BS. If they screw up as they clearly did they should come clean and admit it.
Bank not fit for purpose.

I had Smile current and savings accounts for over 20 years and they were great to start with but the service quality has deteriorated in the last few years and there have been some really inexcusable downtimes (not helped by silence from Smile on these or pathetic excuses such as 'local internet was down' - never heard of multiple redundancy?). The final straw has been their poor (ie virtually zero!) interest rates which just haven't moved with recent BoE and rival bank interest rate changes. You cant not give customers something back & expect them to stay, no matter how ethical you are.

The App is down again - supposedly this is a planned outage. Because why not have ‘planned’ maintenance during the working week? This supposedly scheduled maintenance is supposed to run from 9 pm Tuesday 21 March until early morning 22 March. I suppose that 12:53 in the afternoon is early morning somewhere in the world. THIS BANK IS THE ABSOLUTE PITS. It describes itself as the internet bank yet it is the most unfit and unusable banking platform on it.

UPDATE: 3 April 2023 - Michelle, your answer to my initial post ignores that this wasn’t planned maintenance and that no information was provided to warn customers of the maintenance. Since then, your app and website was down and unusable on Thursday 30 March and again on Friday 31 March. Presently, I can access the app, but can’t make any payments. How can you in any conscious operate such a P poor service to customers? This bank is the absolute pits.

Had to ring Smile because my debit card wasnt working. Automated response came up with the usual "high call volume" excuse. It said a 15 minute wait. I had to wait 50 minutes to speak to someone.
The worst is at the end of the call I asked her could I put a complaint in which she typed up and went away for a moment. Then response was the bank wont uphold that complaint. In other words I couldnt complain about it.
I've been with the Co-op Smile for over 20 years but unfortunately I cannot anymore recommend them. Hardly any branches to speak to someone. Long call wait times and you cant even put forward a complaint about anything that doesn't fit their criteria. Very poor Co-op. My advice is if your looking for an internet bank look elsewhere.

Second time in a week that the bank locked my accounts because I wanted to move some money to my own account at another bank. Only tool 1 and a half hours to resolve this time (took 3 hours last time) so I guess that is progress.