A lot of banks bang on about being different, but chest puffing apart, few actually live up to the claim. But at smile, they really can say it with conviction.

For starters, they've got a resident astrologer, Astro Anne (who had a feeling you'd be reading this now). And apparently she has already made her predictions of how the stars will affect you and your money this month.

So if you want to see if you should splash out on that fantastic top you've had your beady eye on, or throw caution to the wind and head off to New York for a weekend of shopping and partying, then check out her horoscope page. And if she's urging a bit of caution, there's no need to panic. Smile have loads of ways to make hard-earned cash stretch further.

Fuss-free options
Take their rather splendid current account for instance. It pays 3.04% AER on every single penny you have, which is around 30 times more interest than the high street banks. They also give you an automatic £500 overdraft too, at a generously low rate of just 9.9% EAR and free from tiresome arrangement fees.

Then there's their Visa card. Their standard rate is just 9.9% p.a. for current account holders, and 10.5% p.a. for everyone else, and they pay 0.5% cashback on all your purchases. Plus they've promised never to charge an annual fee. Can't be bad.

All this aside, the really refreshing thing about smile is that when you get an email from smile or talk to them on the phone, you are treated in a pleasant everyday fashion, there's none of the usual 'starchiness' associated with the banking industry.

You can access your account 24/7 either online or over the phone - their friendly staff are always available to help deal with any of your issues - relationship problems apart!

The ethical choice
But the icing on the cake is that they don't behave like a bank at all. They pride themselves on their ethical investment policy, which simply means they will not invest in organisations involved in anything from arms trading to genetic modification, or anyone who has less-than-perfect records on human or animal rights. So you're safe in the knowledge that your money isn't playing dirty.

Smile ensure that they do everything they can as an organisation to be as ecologically friendly as possible. The building they work in, for example, is even run on poo. To be more scientific, it's actually run on methane, a by-product of digested sewage, kindly 'donated' by the people of Bournemouth. But as proud as they are of this green credential, few members of staff are keen to know exactly how it works.

To sign up for a Smile current account or to find out more, click here.