Nationwide offers a £175 bank account switch bonus and 1% cashback

Nationwide has relaunched its popular bank account switching bonus, along with a host of other benefits.

Britain’s largest building society is offering a £175 bonus to those who switch via its Current Account Switching Service. If the criteria are met, the money will be paid out within 10 days.

New FlexDirect customers also receive 1 percent cashback on spending with their debit card.

The mutual insurer also announced that from November it will introduce an interest-free buffer of £50 for customers who want to use their overdraft on any of their current accounts.

It is the latest move in a bid to entice customers to open a current account after Nationwide announced a new £100 Fairer Share payment for customers who had an eligible current account and £100 in a Nationwide Savings account or £100 spare on a mortgage.

When the company previously offered this switching bonus, it saw a record number of people switching accounts.

The £175 switching bonus

To receive the cash bonus, customers must complete a full switch to a Nationwide FlexPlus, FlexDirect or FlexAccount via the Current Account Switching Service.

The new account must be opened via the Nationwide website, internet banking or mobile banking app. The switch must be requested as part of the application.

A minimum of two active direct debits must be transferred to the new account as part of the switch. Customers must also deposit £1,000 into the account and make one debit card payment within 31 days.

The switching bonus is available to new customers who open an account on or after September 25, 2024.

If a customer opened a personal or joint account after August 18, 2021 and was eligible for the previous incentive, he or she will not be eligible if he or she opens the same type of account (personal or joint) again.

However, if they previously opened a personal account and now open a joint account, they will be eligible for the deal and vice versa.

Existing customers can also transfer a current account they have with another provider directly to an existing account they hold via Nationwide internet banking. The transfer must be completed within 28 days of requesting it.

The £175 bonus makes the FlexDirect account even more attractive, as you get 5 percent off balances of up to £1,500 for the first 12 months. Plus, you can now get 1 percent cashback on debit card spending (read more about this below).

But from December 1, the cost of the FlexPlus account will increase by £5 per month, from £13 to £18 per month.

It marks the return of bank switching bonuses to the market after they were removed from the market. Earlier this month, challenger bank First Direct also launched a £175 switching bonus.

FlexDirect 1% cashback on debit card purchases

Nationwide has launched a 1 percent cashback promotion on payments made to a FlexDirect account using a debit card for the first 12 months of account ownership.

The cashback is only available to new FlexDirect customers who have not yet received the Nationwide switching discount.

Existing FlexDirect checking account customers will not receive 1 percent cashback on debit card spending.

The cashback is capped at £5 per month and is not paid out on ATM withdrawals.

Digital Bank Chase Bank also offers 1 percent cashback on debit card spending. It’s capped at £15 per month and requires a minimum deposit of £1,500 per month to earn the cashback on purchases.

For existing FlexDirect customers who already benefit from an existing offering, nothing changes.