MSE News: Nationwide revamps credit card with new overseas perk

choc_mouse

Nationwide seem to be throwing "rewards" at us even though they aren't appropriate for everyone e.g. European travel insurance and this.

I would consider £5/month a reward - Halifax
I would consider free Sentinel card protection a reward - N&P

This rewards for abroad thing is more like a complicated cash back scheme that you can only redeem on foreign spending AND you don't really know how much you are saving (unless they print that on the statement).

I'll give it a miss as I travel far too often to want to worry about this. Clarity, Zero or PO any day.

chattychappy

choc_mouse wrote: »

This rewards for abroad thing is more like a complicated cash back scheme that you can only redeem on foreign spending AND you don't really know how much you are saving (unless they print that on the statement).

Well they do say it will appear on the statement. But the T+Cs also say they can withdraw the scheme at short notice. That could be annoying if you've put through several months spend only to have it withdrawn at a month's notice. (Think it was a month.)

calypso_rhapsody

I am confused, I have a Nationwide Gold card that i have held for a couple of years. MSE website says that if i applied for the card before 22 Feb 2011 then i have fee-free spending in Europe but the lady in branch says not - 1% fee.

Does anyone know what the situation is, it is not clear to me from visiting the website which focuses on info for new applicants .....

interbear

NW continue their successful campaign to become a "me-too" bank, disappointing customers in the process. First they withdrew free foreign transactions on FlexAccount debit cards. An across the board benefit reduction that as well as impacting their primary target (those customers who only loaded up the account for foreign trips) also removed the benefit for more regular FlexAccount users.

If it's OK to "reward" regular users of the new credit card with fee-free foreign transactions, why was that principle not considered for FlexAccount users? The credit card scheme seems unnecessarily complex but if they had put a simpler version of it in place for FlexAccount they may have retained a few more customers.

We still have a NW Gold credit card but there is no information on the NW web site at all on this now. So it's not easy to see what the impact is, other than to assume, based on previous behaviour, that the benefits will reduce.

Clarity card here I come .....

Cazzkins

Sorry rb10, I was thinking of the FSA 'Treating Customers Fairly' agreement which Nationwide happily signed up to. Of course they should ensure that, first and foremost, they treat their members fairly but many of us are/were members AND customers of Nationwide and no distinction has been made in this instance!

rb10 wrote: »

Personally I believe that this is an excellent idea of Nationwide's.

Ok, it's not a market leading card, but it's still up there with the best of them for foreign spending and far better than cards available nearly everywhere else.


Nationwide's principal remit is to support its members, not its customers as you claim. Those people who are customers but not members (e.g. just hold a credit card) are there to add value to the society (and possibly to foster a future membership relationship), and are not actually there to be supported in the same way as members.

Nationwide is treating those people who have a 'proper' relationship with them fairly. If you use their card in the UK, then they'll reward you. If you are just trying to take advantage of their offer (thus costing them money), then why should you get the reward?

Personally, I AM a member of Nationwide and have been since the early 1990's and I have NOT been treated fairly on countless occasions! Furthermore, I am reminded of who has been 'taking advantage' of whom each time I receive my AGM voting papers and see how much the CEO and Directors are paid each year! I am not asking for any unwarranted 'reward', I am just fed up with them pretending that they are a better, caring organisation when, in many instances, they behave just as despicably as the non-mutual banks! :mad:

chattychappy

Cazzkins wrote: »

Sorry rb10, I was thinking of the FSA 'Treating Customers Fairly' agreement which Nationwide happily signed up to.

As a trainspottery observation, the FSA doesn't regulate the CC side of things - that's done by the OFT. So really CCs are outside the scope of the FSA's TCF, but regulated by OFT. And of course disputes go to the FOS, which is really more associated with the FSA than the OFT.