12m Nationwide customers miss out on £100
Millions of loyal Nationwide customers lose out on £100 windfall because they don’t qualify for a payout according to the mortgage bank’s strict criteria
Millions of loyal Nationwide customers are missing out on a £100 windfall because they don’t qualify for a payout according to the mortgage bank’s strict criteria.
On Friday, Nationwide revealed to much fanfare that it was handing out £100 payments to members to share the loot from the massive winnings. But less than a quarter of the 16 million members will share in the £340 million pot.
To be eligible, members must have had a nationwide checking account since at least March 31 and keep it open until June. They must also have at least £100 in Nationwide savings accounts by March or owe at least £100 on a Nationwide residential mortgage by March 31.
The rules mean that loyal members who have been saving with the construction company for years or even decades will miss out if they also don’t have a national checking account.
Laura Suter of investment platform AJ Bell says Nationwide needs eligibility criteria to decide who qualifies, but long-term savers may be frustrated that they’re missing out.
What’s missing: Less than a quarter of Nationwide’s 16 million members will share in the £340 million pot
She says, “Part of the reason Nationwide has such high profits is that it hasn’t fully passed on interest rate hikes to savers. Some savers might have preferred an interest rate increase.’
Nationwide launched its Fairer Share Payment after posting strong financial results and a profit of £2.2 billion.
Because Nationwide is a mutual company, it can choose to share profits with its customers – all of whom are members of the building society – rather than handing them over to shareholders, as banks do.
Payments automatically go to the checking accounts of eligible members in June. Nationwide says it plans to make the payment annually if it is not detrimental to financial standing.
Suter says savers could consider opening a current account next year in the hope of a payout, but adds: ‘A payout of £100 in the future is not guaranteed. In comparison, a number of banks offer switching premiums of up to £200 for new current account customers, which you don’t have to wait for.’
Nationwide also announced a two-year, fixed-rate Fairer Share Bond available exclusively to all existing members paying 4.75 percent annually, though DF Capital and Hodge Bank both pay 4.95 percent for two-year fixed-rate deals.