It’s been about eight years now since I ditched the bunch of muppets at Lloyds TSB in favour of Smile, the Internet bank from the Co-operative. Quite apart from their ethical banking policy, they offer decent rates on their accounts, and more than that running the account is a minimum of hassle.
Tonight, Watchdog on the BBC published the results of their recent banking survey, which showed that my decision of eight years ago was a good one now, with Smile in second place, just piped at the post by First Direct, another internet based bank.
What was interesting to note was the big names down at the bottom of the table, my former bank Lloyds TSB was right down there – ironic considering the comment of the manager at Rickmansworth when I closed my Lloyds TSB account that he hoped to tempt me back – along with the Halifax and Bank of Scotland, and award for the worst bank of all going to the Abbey.
However, the detail of the figures is what makes interesting reading, so for example the banks that did well had most voters saying that they hadn’t had need to complain, and those that did found problems easily resolved by the bank. In comparison the banks that did poorly had larger numbers of complaints, and it was more of a problem to solve.
In the past it has been reported that people didn’t change banks because they thought it was a hassle – it is perhaps pleasing to see that only ten percent of respondents to this survey believe this. Certainly even eight years ago it was relatively straightforward for me to switch, and the problems there were came down to Lloyds TSB incompetence rather than Smile. The biggest reason for non-switching now seems to be that people think they won’t get better service elsewhere – based on the results of the survey, if they are with one of the big banks in the bottom five this is untrue. When you look at the massive numbers of people who have been with the same bank for years – almost two-thirds for ten or more years, you realise that the big banks essentially rely on the apathy of the vast majority of their customers to make them money. They hit their customers with big charges, pay miserly interest rates and offer us lousy customer service because they know that the vast majority of people won’t bother to move, because they either think the other banks will be the same, or they think it’s too much hassle.
Certainly I’ll disagree. I’ll happily recommend Smile, the accounts have run without a major hitch for years. The most recent time I had to call customer service was actually to unpick my screw up, rather than something they’d done, but they were really helpful and apologetic that they couldn’t be more help, despite it being my fault. On top of that they have a current account that pays almost thirty times the interest of some of the major banks on my whole balance rather than just part of it (check out the small print on some of the competition), and doesn’t hammer me when I go overdrawn either. The changeover is not too bad either – with Smile it’s one form to fill in, and then a month or so of keeping an eye on the old bank to make sure they do their part in switching you over. So, if you’re still with a high street bank, and dissatisfied with their service, why not vote with your feet and take your business elsewhere?
