Sidekick: Wealth Management

I used one of Sidekick’s Easy Access savings accounts recently. Though within 2 weeks of depositing my funds, I decided that the app and the processes that Sidekick use wasn’t for me and requested my account was closed. For their cash savings products: - their UI is sluggish - high initial deposit minimums, compared with industry standard - their daily interest is not calculated over weekends, unlike MoneyBox as an example - their withdrawal transactions (in my case) took longer than 24 hours to process, even with requesting prior to 10:30am on working days - though I held one account, there were 3 individuals interest rates attached (one of the main account, the bonus rate, the rate of the “wallet” which the bonus rate was deposited). Though made clear by the documentation, this makes things chunky and unnecessarily complex. - No simple “close account”, you have to use a chat based feature. In my opinion, either these processes are intentional by the Sidekick team for some form of gain, which I would like to make consumers aware of other accounts are available with similar interest rate, instant transactions and lower min. deposit amounts; or it is not intentional and therefore Sidekick should seriously work on their processes to offer the same features as other services in this sector which are considered the baseline for most consumers.

I began onboarding with Sidekick more than two weeks ago and the process is still incomplete. For a financial platform, this level of delay in simply opening an account is disappointing and does not inspire confidence. Support replies when contacted, but only during office hours and not with the responsiveness I’ve experienced from other providers like Moneybox, Plum or HL. The customer service feels under-resourced for a company handling people’s money. The platform itself looks polished and the product ideas (Smart Cash, investments, etc.) are interesting, but the execution is far behind the presentation. At this stage, Sidekick feels like a company with potential but not yet mature enough for me to commit funds. I hope the team can improve onboarding speed and customer support — if these areas are strengthened, I would be happy to revisit Sidekick in the future.

My experience with Sidekick so far has been great. Easy onboarding, easy to understand guides and videos and great customer service. Not to mention the interest rate on the savings account which is more than double my current account. Excited to see what comes next with Sidekick