nationwide vs principality bs

nqt2010

im looking to transfer my ISA which I currently have with barclays.

I know a little while back martin lewis was saying that nationwide is the best so i requested the transfer forms etc and forgot to fill them in and now i cant find them so would have to request them again.

However now martin lewis is advising the principality e-isa. I have looked on their website and it looks straight forward and I can print off the transfer forms without having to wait for them to be posted etc.

Principality offer 2.8% AER compared to 2.75% with nationwide. Im thinking of just going with principality for ease and speed.

Any advice on which is best or are they pretty much the same?
Thanks

Just_Incredible

I am in the same position as you. I say just go for the Principality e-ISA :cool:

LongTermLurker

The 0.05% makes no real difference, so go with other deciding factors: speed, reliability, reputation, customer service, does the rate drop after a year - to what level? Things like that.

I can't say about Principality, but I haven't thought of Nationwide in a good light for many years, and they're currently not overly popular.

hansi

Just one word of warning with the PBS. If you're transferring it shouldn't affect you. But on the application form they ask you for your bank details and amount for the initial payment to be made by DD (you would think) Ah but no. It's very badly worded. If you are opening an amount form scratch (no transfer) you have to initially set up a bank transfer for the initial amount. After that you can use the DD facility. They say that they will change the wording as it's a bit ambiguous.

tonyg_2

Yes, I have just opened a PBS ISA and the wording was confusing.

I am using this account solely to transfer an OLD ISA from previous years subscriptions. I assume that there is no problem in me now opening a brand new ISA with Alliance and Leicester to use up THIS years £5100? Thanks.

hansi

Why, in this electronic and faster payments age does it take ten working days for PBS to make a DD active? The DD has been set up by my bank (one week ago) , and I have made my initial payment by bank transfer which has been acknowledged by PBS. Now I need to wait aother ten days before I can move the rest of my money by DD!

Spiggle

I have no experience of nationwide but did have a PBS ISA which I found was serviced very efficiently. I transferred in to it and transferred out of it with very little delay. Just thought I'd add my experience.

HTH,
Spigs

Nessie23

Hi I have just switched my ISA from Nationwide to Principality BS. I have experienced both and for me the customer service and dedication from Principality BS has been much better and quicker than Nationwide.

NB - Nationwide have now reduced their interest rate to 2.58% AER so the difference between both accounts is actually 0.22%

Wyndham

I'm currently in the process of moving ALL of my accounts from Nationwide (bank account, two ISAs, savings account). This is because they made a mess of our ISAs, then made a mess of the apology. Moving to a slightly lower rate, but given the hassle we've had with Nationwide I'd rather get less money and better customer service.

Of course, my experience may not be typical, but I think reading some of the things on here it is. And I used to think Nationwide were different... not any more!

Good luck, whatever you decide.

TechnoBadger

We've moved several accounts from Nationwide - each after problems. I'd suggest using the other building societies - Principality as mentioned above amongst others.