Credit Card from Smile

Card Details
Overall Rating:
Issued By:	Smile
Card:	Credit Card
Network:	Visa
Category:	Rewards
Acceptance:
Insurance:	Travel Accident
Service:	24 Hour Telephone Line, Online Account Management, Secure Messaging
Comments:	10.9% APR with current account, 13.8% without.
Pitch:	"With a Smile Credit Card you can enjoy low standard rates plus cashback on every penny you spend. Why choose between one great feature or another when a Smile Credit Card gives you the lot?"
APR & Rates
Typical APR:	10.9%
Interest Free Days:	46
Minimum Repayment:	-
Annual Fee:	No annual fee.
Balance Transfers
APR:	None
Period:	None
Charges:	No Fee
Purchases
APR:	-
Period:	-
Rewards
Type:	Cashback
Description:	-
Reward Rate:	0.50%
Period:	-
Comments and Reviews
Aimed At:	Individuals that usually clear their balances in full most months, thus benefitting from the cashback and a low APR for those times that a balance is carried. Also very good for those that use their credit card at ATMs.
Review:	Smile is the online brand of the Co-operative Bank and offers a no-frills, internet-access account with the bank’s cost savings shared with the consumer. Along the same lines as Egg, Cahoot, Intelligent Finance. The Smile Credit Card has been around for a few years now and is generally regarded as one of the better cards on the market, having won 'best credit card' twice at the Guardian Consumer Finance Awards (2002 & 2003). Getting down to the nitty-gritty of the card, we see that it has a standard APR of 11.8% APR and a cashback on purchases of 0.5%. This is a pretty reasonable package, but a handful of competitors out there have similar or better offerings, such as the Mint card from RBS that provides the same cashback level for 10.9% APR. The Smile credit card, however, has a few big plus points in its favour. Firstly, the current account deal: open a Smile online current account (where you earn a healthy 3% interest on your balance, and winner of the 2003 Guardian Consumer Finance Award for Best Current Account) and as part of the package, you receive a discounted standard credit card APR of just 9.9%. This is great value for a cashback card and would push this offering ahead of the Mint alternative, although the Mint card does come with a balance transfer offer that is lacking on this credit card. While we’re talking about the current account though, we should briefly mention Smile’s Ethical investment policy, which basically means they neither give their money to arms dealers nor invest in countries with poor human rights record. Secondly, Smile do not operate a variable rate – many cardholders complain that when they receive a new card, they have been offered a higher rate than advertised. This is because your standard APR is based on your individual credit rating and other factors. With Smile, the interest rate you see advertised is the interest rate you get. Either you are accepted and given a 9.9% rate (or 12.8% without the linked current account), or you are not accepted. Simple, and in our eyes, a good way to do business. The other great benefit is the cash advance APR. Even with the ‘best in class’ cards around, it is very rare to see a cash advance APR below 20%. Credit card issuers charge the most here because they do not know what the money will be spent on and they realise that when people resort to using a credit card cash advance, it is likely to be a ‘last-chance saloon’ decision where the individual accepts being charged through the nose for quick access to cash. Smile, refreshingly, charge a very reasonable 15.2% on their card, which is reduced to a staggering 12.2% if you have a Smile current account. To put that in context, the majority of UK credit card holders probably pay a higher standard / purchase APR on their card than the Smile cash advance APR. Before wrapping up, we wanted to point out that the “Apply Now” and Smile advertising banners on this page relate to the Smile current account. Basically, if you click on one of these buttons, we get a little cash from Smile when you sign up for the current account. We don’t have something similar for the credit card itself, but fortunately, we feel that this card is only a seriously attractive option when you receive the discounted rate from possessing a current account and the card. However, if you want to apply solely for the Smile Card (perhaps you already have a current account), then we provide a link directly for the Smile credit card application page, even though we don’t actually pick up any commission for this. To summarise, if you get this credit card together with the Smile current account, you should be pretty pleased with your choices. With the two as a package, the card would give 0.5% cashback for a standard APR of 9.9% and cash advance at 12.2%. This would make it one of the better cards available on the market, the only omission being any kind of balance transfer offer, and you would benefit from the 3% gross interest on the Smile current account (compared to the typical current account rate of less than 1% from traditional high-street banks).
Verdict:	-
Overall Rating:

 
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