Smile was definitely a ‘product of it’s time’ in that it gave ‘traditional’ banks an option to experiment with Internet banking, but without having to go ‘all in’ with it on their main brand. The same with Cahoot when that was launched by Abbey National and IF from I think at the time Halifax?.
Now that all banks are expected to support internet, and mobile app, banking - it’s lost it’s USP.
Although, come to think of it, those were all (at the time) ‘members owned’ organisations, so maybe there was an extra benefit of having a sub-brand like this as well? (can’t remember if Smile, Cahoot or IF customers got the same members rights at Co-op, Abbey National and Halifax customers?).
Smile could be an option for Coventry BS to start to offer current accounts again though - just reclaim and refresh the brand and have that as their current account branding?
I went with a Smile, rather than the Co-op’s main bank because at the time Smile offered overdrafts and a full featured VISA card where the Co-op didn’t.
Smile, Cahoot, and IF, have never been part of member-owned organisations.
The Cooperative Bank has been operating as a limited company since 1971. It was ultimately owned by the Cooperative Group, but that didn’t make its customers members of the Coop. Smile was created in 1999.
Abbey National converted from a building society to a bank in 1989, and Halifax converted in 1997. Cahoot and IF were both set up in 2000.
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Doug_hboy
(Always be alert because the World always needs lerts.)
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Always a shame IMO that NatWest never bought Abbey as they could have been renamed Westminster Abbey Bank (Bank added to differentiate from the Cathedral).
Smile definitely did as if you then subsequently joined the Co-op as a member, you received the Divi because of your dealings with Smile and had voting rights.
Of course it was a extra step to join the Co-op as a member as customers wasn’t made members automatically but once joined you received a share in the profits like every other customer that did.
I left Smile only last month as they were stale* and had absolutely nothing new to offer and their increasingly long downtime was getting on my last nerve.
*They had been for the longest time but I was there because I couldn’t be bothered to jump ship.
I think ditching the divi was a shooting in the foot in their part. Strangely, you can still get divi on the members credit card issued by the coop bank, but don’t get it in any other way now.
Yeah they now do a money off type thing in their stores, does it really help in their overly expensive shops is a subject worth talking about. No is my response to that. However it makes it look like they’re trying to help which is probably the main point.
Thought I’d see about the CoOp credit card as it had a decent balance transfer offer on.
Tootling along quite nicely until the question that asked what limit you’d like and said it had to be from £50 (yes, fifty) to £15000. Why would anyone ask for a limit of £50?
For anyone who has / was thinking of getting, the co-operative packaged account, as the slightly cheaper version of the Nationwide account, they are increasing their fee to the same as Nationwide, £18 a month.
For anyone like me, who has the closed to new applicants, Privilege Premier, this is going up to £18.50.
