I use a Nationwide savings account. Is there anything I need to do before they are dropped in February?

I am a Nationwide customer who uses a passbook and based on what I have read on this site and what the Nationwide bank staff have told me about the passbook changes, I am not impressed.

When I went to my local branch in October, a member of staff couldn’t tell me anything about the changes – other than, and I quote, ‘they haven’t told us anything yet’.

I have an Isa with branches and don’t want to manage it online. I just want to know: do I have to take action before February 6 and will I be disadvantaged in some way, such as being forced to switch to another account that may have a lower interest rate?

Helen Kirrane from This is Money replies: Over the summer we announced that Nationwide would be abolishing passbooks in their current form from early February 2025.

Shortly afterwards, Nationwide announced it would ‘modernise’ passbooks in a process that would last seven months, until February 2025.

Customers who want to continue using a passbook will instead be given a ‘savings wallet’ containing a Nationwide card that can only be used in a Nationwide branch.

The wallet will also have space for printed ‘mini-statements’, which customers receive when they deposit or withdraw money at a branch.

Nationwide claims that less than 2 percent of its customers use passbooks. With more than 16 million members, this amounts to approximately 320,000 customers.

Customers with a Passbook will no longer be able to use it in its current form after February 2025.

Those who do not want the new savings wallet can only use their old passbooks until then.

I asked Nationwide whether you would be forced to switch to another account with a lower interest rate due to the phasing out of your bankbook.

Nationwide told me that customers who still want to use branch savings accounts when passbooks are phased out in their current iteration will be switched to the same type of product they use now and the rate will not change.

You’re not the first to point out that Nationwide staff may not be fully aware of the changes – although the construction company told us below that full training has been provided.

A Nationwide insider recently told This is Money that the Nationwide Group Staff Union (NGSU) had not been given advance notice of the rollout of modernized passbooks.

The insider claimed: ‘The first time NGSU heard about the ‘rollout’ was from a number of department employees who called the union and complained about the lack of information on how to proceed with this.’

The NGSU said: ‘We were informed about the project around the same time that industry colleagues were informed. Once the project started, we were able to gather more details about the process.”

A spokesperson for Nationwide said: Nationwide does not remove passbooks, but modernizes them.

The new savings wallet retains all the benefits that Passbook customers appreciate: face-to-face service at a branch and having a physical record of transactions.

It will contain a card, which, importantly, can only be used in a branch in a similar way to how passbooks are used today.

It also provides a printed overview of the member’s account in the form of securely stored mini statements.

We have written to customers to inform them of the changes and encourage them to visit a branch to discuss their options.

Full training has been provided to colleagues in the branches on the changes and how they can support customers in opening the new savings wallet product

Customers will switch to the same type of product they currently use (i.e. Branch Isa customers will switch to a different Branch Isa account) and their rate will not be changed as part of this activity.

We remain committed to branches and have the largest banking presence on the high street. Nationwide has also renewed its branch promise, so that wherever there is a branch now, it will still be there until 2028.

Do you use a bankbook and are you concerned about moving before February 2025? Contact us: editor@thisismoney.co.uk