MSE News discussion. Nationwide kills cheap overseas spending

gallygirl

Gamegal wrote: »

PLEASE CAN SOME KIND MEMBER EXPLAIN TO ME JUST HOW I CAN 'MULTIQUOTE'. I PRESS THE SYMBOL BUT JUST GET THE ONE. THANKS!

Don't press the quote button, but the pink and orange speech bubbles next to it. Sometimes you have to click more than once, but you will get a white tick in the box when it works. Then press the Post Reply button (bottom left of thread) when you are ready to respond.

Hope that helps. There will be a £2 fee and 1.5% charge for my response, and I reserve the right to withdraw my answer at any time.

avqs43

apt wrote: »

Are you sure that you still get 1%? I think Nationwide reduced the cashback to 0.25% as well as stopping cashback for foreign purchases. Yet another Nationwide product that was far better than it is now.

It may well be. I stooze with other cards and so just make a small purchase every so often to raise a statement every other month. (The repayment raises the statement on the other months). I just make a few pence at the end of each year in December.

Senior_Witch

I am furious! I have used my Nationwide debit card very happily in South Africa to shop and take out spending money. My husband lives in South Africa and I visit regularly. Thank you, MSE for publicising this new 'stealth charge'.

I have had a Nationwide bank account since they were first available and have had good service from Nationwide. I have used various savings and mortgage products - but might change my mind soon if their savings rates remain so low and they start adding extra charges. They have already stopped offering a minute bit of interest on current accounts which stay in credit.

glider3560

Senior_Witch wrote: »

Thank you, MSE for publicising this new 'stealth charge'.

How will this be a "stealth charge"? Nationwide will write to you before the charge is introduced on 1st November.

avqs43

The more I think about this, the more annoyed I become. I had my mortgage with NW but paid it off a few years ago, (less £1 so they keep the deeds in safekeeping for free and I will pay the £1 when I come to sell the house). I wonder when that free service will end. I have had bonds and other savings with them and I also hold some Cheshire BS savings, which now form part of NW. Everyone subsidises someone else in one form or another, whether it be non-travellers subsidising travellers or working people subsidising those who cannot (or who decide not to) work. You cannot punish the few to try to eliminate an anomaly in the system. Nobody likes to pay NI contributions and tax to "pay for the loafers", but there may an occasion through no fault of your own that you beome unemployed. You would be glad of the "handout".

The same is true in banking. There may well be a few of us who use a well publicised and much loved facility because it is cheaper than anywhere else. Taking this away may well cause a large number of investors to vote with their feet and in the long run could be more detrimental than leaving things as they are. Unfortunately, everything seems to be based on pound signs. That's not making a profit so get rid of it. Beeching had the same idea with the railways.

Here endeth my rant!!

bwstafford

I have 2 Flex accounts. I shall take all money out, but leave accounts open. That will cost them, yet without any benefit for them. They will still be sending out nil statements.

virgo17

glider3560 wrote: »

Why not offer free withdrawals to people who pay in £750 per month and scrap the insurance?

One thing First Direct did some time ago was to offer free banking to customers who either paid in a minimum amount per month OR had subscribed to one of their other products, such as ISA or savings.

Something similar here by Nationwide would seem to be the logical option as not only would it stop the so called Flexaccount 'abuse' but would encourage new business and also not penalise existing 'genuine' customers.

However, maybe Mr Rhodes doesn't think logically and is only interested in short term (artificial) gain.

dzug1

bwstafford wrote: »

I have 2 Flex accounts. I shall take all money out, but leave accounts open. That will cost them, yet without any benefit for them. They will still be sending out nil statements.

Will they? Most banks don't send statements that have no transactions on them

premierfella

The Chief Executive earns a base salary of £650,000 p.a., so I have to assume that they know what they are doing.

They know that FlexAccounts will be closed in large numbers because of the fee change on foreign transactions.

They know that this will mightily p** off members of the Society, who are already underwhelmed by the non-fixed rate savings rates the Society is able to offer.

They are prepared to accept the above.

This is because the closing of FlexAccounts will save the Society LOTS of money (FlexAccounts are very obviously being run at a loss by the Society on the current charging structure).

The inevitable loss of cross-selling income is not sufficient to make up for the loss-leading FlexAccount as it currently stands (partly because the low mortgage rate deals some customers are rightly sitting on, together with the low BOE Base Rate, mean that the Society no longer has competitive savings rates other than in the fixed rate market).

The only thing I am disappointed with is the failure of the Board, on somewhat inflated salaries, to either come up with an alternative to the changes proposed or alternatively to adopt appropriate policies to avoid being in this position in the first place.

System

If your talking about the Cash Reward Gold / Cash Reward card.
They also reduced the interest free period to 46 days

Lots of Nationwide products were very competitive, if not best buys.
Now look at them even compared to even other societies and banks.

RIP Nationwide. I hope Santander wants some more branches...

apt wrote: »

Are you sure that you still get 1%? I think Nationwide reduced the cashback to 0.25% as well as stopping cashback for foreign purchases. Yet another Nationwide product that was far better than it is now.