Many Nationwide customers are set to see a surprise £100 paid into their bank accounts next month - but whether you'll get it depends on which accounts you have.
The building society confirmed on Friday in an email sent out to qualifying members that it is distributing a record total of £340 million to selected account holders in June. The new Fairer Share scheme will see the money handed out to customers with savings or current accounts who meet certain criteria.
Nationwide has also announced a two-year fixed Nationwide Fairer Share Bond with a 4.75% interest rate. It comes after pre-tax profit soared 38% to £2.2bn in the year to April – up from £1.6bn last year, WalesOnline reports.
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As a building society Nationwide is owned by its customer members, who are supposed to benefit from profits through better saving rates and other perks. Chief executive Debbie Crosbie said: "Nationwide's purpose is to offer banking but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society.
"That's why we have introduced the Nationwide Fairer Share, which will see us return even more value back to members. We are able to do this because of our financial strength and the fact we're a building society, not a bank, so our profit is used for our members' benefit. It's part of our enduring commitment to rewarding our members."
To be eligible to receive the payment, you must have either a qualifying current account and qualifying savings, or a qualifying current account and a qualifying mortgage. For your current account to qualify, it must have been open by March 31, 2023.
A qualifying current account must be one of the following:
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FlexPlus – You must pay the monthly fee for maintaining the account
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FlexOne, FlexStudent, or FlexGraduate – You must have received at least one payment in or made one payment out of your account during March 2023. Any charges or interest or adjustments made to your account balance do not count
- FlexAccount, FlexDirect, or FlexBasic – In two of the three months of January 2023, February 2023, and March 2023 you must have received at least £500 into your current account. Transfers in from other Nationwide accounts do not count. Plus you must have made at least two payments out of your account each month in two of those three months. Any charges or interest or adjustments made to your account balance do not count as payments into your current account or payments out of your current account. You do not need to have met the above requirements if you completed a switch to your FlexAccount, FlexDirect, or FlexBasic using the Current Account Switch Service between January 1 and March 31, 2023.
Meanwhile, your savings will qualify if you had at least £100 in total in one or more personal savings accounts or cash ISAs with Nationwide at the end of any day in March 2023. Qualifying savings do NOT include:
- Money you held in a Nationwide Business Savings account (including money held in BusinessSaver, PortfolioInvestor, and Treasurer’s Trust accounts)
- Money or other assets held in a Nationwide Investment account such as a stocks and shares ISA
- Money in an account in the name of someone else that is being held for your benefit under a trust or similar arrangement. For example if money is held in a Future Saver account in the name of a parent but for the benefit of a child the money in the account will only count towards the parent’s qualifying savings.
For your mortgage to qualify, you must have owed at least £100 on your Nationwide residential mortgage on March 31, 2023. Qualifying mortgages do NOT include:
- A mortgage with subsidiaries such as The Mortgage Works (UK) PLC, UCB Home Loans Corporation Limited, Derbyshire Home Loans Limited, or E-Mex Home Funding Limited
- A mortgage you applied for but which had not completed by March 31, 2023
- Nationwide commercial mortgages.
You can double-check whether you qualify for the £100 payment by answering a few questions on Nationwide's eligibility checker.
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