MSE News discussion. Nationwide kills cheap overseas spending

C_Mababejive

Do we know when the cover commences..?

Aotearovas

Before getting carried away with the munificence of Nationwide in giving free travel insurance instead of ‘free ‘ money, a word of warning if you are a keen motorcyclist. The Travel Insurance policy as currently detailed on the Nationwide website will only cover you if you are riding a machine up to 125cc. This is useless for anyone, like me, who likes to tour Europe on a much larger machine.
RELYING UPON THIS POLICY COULD BE DANGEROUS FOR YOUR HEALTH AND WALLET.
BTW, too many travel policies are like this, containing this insidious exclusion in their small print. If you are a touring biker I urge you to read the small print, just in case

davidgmmafan

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Do we know when the cover commences..?

Well its supposed to be straight away but as the only notification thus far has been in the paper and online, nobody seems to have recieved a letter, so everyone is somewhat in the dark I'm afraid. So it fails even people whos travel insurance is due to run out!

common_sense_for_all

I am new to this Forum and read all posts as I am affected as well by the Nationwide changes.

We have to look at the facts:

Nationwide have been offering this well-loved perk of cost free foreign ATM-Cash withdrawels for quite some time and people have used it. I do somehow resent Nationwide's - and some poster's - remarks that there are "genuine" and "non-genuine" Flex-Account holders. It was Nationwide who offered this perk in the first place and it can't blame so-called "non genuine" CUSTOMERS ( who probably have other investments/loans with the Society) taking advantage of it.
Fact : every NW Flex Acc. holder could access this perk - it was their choice to do so or not.

They are replacing this with free Travel insurance - "another perk"(??) - I don't think so -because - FACT : not all members can access it! So....it is a perk to only a certain category of members.

The only thing to do is to find another source which gives you exactly what NW is trying to eliminate : cost-free foreign cash witdrawels and the only choice at the moment is SANTANDER ZERO DEBIT CARD ( I know they haven't got the best reputation but it is OUR CHOICE. )

Loyalty from Banks and Building Societies does not exist - it never has done - these are institutions to make money.
There are so many things in life where people do not have a CHOICE ( governments increasing direct and indirect taxes - the list is endless )
BUT - IN THIS INSTANCE - PEOPLE DO HAVE A CHOICE AND SHOULD MAKE IT - AS I SAID BEFORE - LOYALTY DOESN'T EXIST WHEN IT AFFECTS YOUR HARD EARNED PENNIES!

liv1975

Hungerdunger wrote: »

I can't see the problem. As a lone traveller, the free insurance should save me well over £40 per year.

Don't know where you get your Travel Insurance from mate, but my wife (who has a pre-existing medical condition to add to the complication) and I have worldwide cover inc USA/Canada with good cover / low excess for £32/year!

Just like the majority of posts on here, I've been with Nationwide for years, my wife and I both pay our salary into the Flex Account, all our Direct Debits and Standing Orders come out of it. We have an e-Savings account and a Credit Card too. Not a single one of the "benefits" are any use for us at all.

Think for me the Halifax is looking like a decent option ... £5 per month is an easy £60 per year ... and it's cash too!

liv1975

common_sense_for_all wrote: »

I am new to this Forum and read all posts as I am affected as well by the Nationwide changes.

We have to look at the facts:

Nationwide have been offering this well-loved perk of cost free foreign ATM-Cash withdrawels for quite some time and people have used it. I do somehow resent Nationwide's - and some poster's - remarks that there are "genuine" and "non-genuine" Flex-Account holders. It was Nationwide who offered this perk in the first place and it can't blame so-called "non genuine" CUSTOMERS ( who probably have other investments/loans with the Society) taking advantage of it.
Fact : every NW Flex Acc. holder could access this perk - it was their choice to do so or not.

They are replacing this with free Travel insurance - "another perk"(??) - I don't think so -because - FACT : not all members can access it! So....it is a perk to only a certain category of members.

The only thing to do is to find another source which gives you exactly what NW is trying to eliminate : cost-free foreign cash witdrawels and the only choice at the moment is SANTANDER ZERO DEBIT CARD ( I know they haven't got the best reputation but it is OUR CHOICE. )

Loyalty from Banks and Building Societies does not exist - it never has done - these are institutions to make money.
There are so many things in life where people do not have a CHOICE ( governments increasing direct and indirect taxes - the list is endless )
BUT - IN THIS INSTANCE - PEOPLE DO HAVE A CHOICE AND SHOULD MAKE IT - AS I SAID BEFORE - LOYALTY DOESN'T EXIST WHEN IT AFFECTS YOUR HARD EARNED PENNIES!

Please don't use excessive capital letters, it implies you are shouting and can be taken as rather unpleasant.

I understand your comment about "genuine" and "non-genuine" customers, I agree the wording is not suitable (even though I'd be classed as a "genuine" customer). That said, Nationwide also had the choice as to how they handled this. If they didn't like people having the account just to make cheap cash withdrawals, then they could have imposed a condition on it. In exactly the same way as, say, Halifax pay £5 per month provided you pay in however much it is (normally from salary), Nationwide could have offered free cash withdrawals under the same conditions.

I feel miffed that all these changes are being steam-rollered through, yet as a Nationwide Account Holder (and thus member of the mutual) I've had no warning and no say.

KTF

common_sense_for_all wrote: »

SANTANDER ZERO DEBIT CARD

This is only available to customers that also have either a Santander Mortgage and/or 'investment' product.

If you meant the Zero credit card then that charges interest on cash withdrawals and can be beaten by the Halifax Clarity card which has a lower interest rate alongside the no loading worldwide.

davidgmmafan

"Think for me the Halifax is looking like a decent option ... £5 per month is an easy £60 per year ... and it's cash too!"

As a couple you might want to open one account each as well as a joint account. Cycle the £1000 round and its £180 per year. I've just heard thier credit card has a reward of £5/month for a £300 spend. Might look into that myself. Perhaps my cynical observation that Nationwide wishes to promote shopping around and competition is not so far off.

I'll try to stop jumping into the thread so it doesn't look like I'm hogging it, its just my nature to help people

jamesperrett

EarthBoy wrote: »

A Senior Customer Consultant is not high up in the society. Their standard call centre staff are called customer service/sales consultants, so a senior one is only one level up from the bottom rung!

In some call centres, the staff take turns at being the supervisor/senior consultant for the day.

James.

Biggles

Aotearovas wrote: »

Before getting carried away with the munificence of Nationwide in giving free travel insurance instead of ‘free ‘ money, a word of warning if you are a keen motorcyclist. The Travel Insurance policy as currently detailed on the Nationwide website will only cover you if you are riding a machine up to 125cc. This is useless for anyone, like me, who likes to tour Europe on a much larger machine.
RELYING UPON THIS POLICY COULD BE DANGEROUS FOR YOUR HEALTH AND WALLET.
BTW, too many travel policies are like this, containing this insidious exclusion in their small print. If you are a touring biker I urge you to read the small print, just in case

Surely, any travel insurance only ever covers motorcycling where it is merely a 'holiday activity'?

If you were actually touring Europe, on any size bike, you'd need your normal motorcycle insurance with European cover added? Plus, of course, travel insurance for all the usual things like cancellation, loss of luggage, personal accident etc etc.