Nationwide ever becoming a bank?

colsten

sauvignon wrote: »

My source was the Which? Recommended/Customer Preferred Providers tables for Current Accounts

Admittedly it is a while since I looked at any Which? recommendations for anything financial. Last time I read one of their articles, I was singularly unimpressed with their 'research' and with their conclusions. It may not all be in one place, but the 'research' you get on the MSE Forum was miles better than what Which? produced.

If they still have the FD current account top of a league, they MSE Forum still beats the Which? information.

It's worth noting in the context that FD are one of the most prolific payers of referral money. At least MSE declare that they get money from FD for clickthroughs. Do Which? tell their readers? Do Which? alert their readers of switching bonuses?

dreaming

To be honest I am not sure if it is the case that Nationwide has necessarily worsened over the last few years (as regards account rates etc.), rather that banks have got much better at attracting customers. The Nwide Flex & Flexplus accounts are certainly held in high esteem by many for it's very good additional benefits, but for a non-traveller with a very basic mobile phone (like me) not such a great deal. I did have the their Direct a/c for 12 months for the interest rate but once that had gone there was little to make me want to stay compared to the rates given by the likes of Tesco, Santander, Lloyds, TSB et al. As for customer service, well I can honestly say that I have had pretty much the same good service from all of my account providers, but then I keep quite a close eye on my money and pick up potential problems early on, or maybe I have just been lucky. I think what Martin Lewis says is very true, in the past banks (and building societies) have got away with "bad" service due to their customer's apathy in changing accounts (and before the switching service it was a bit of a faff!) but people seem to be getting much more savvy and demanding better service/benefits and like all good businesses those that recognise that and respond attract more customers. Of course, how long any of these rates etc. are sustainable is anybody's guess.

colsten

I agree with you, "service" is much of a muchness across all the current account providers. That's one of the reasons that I don't give two hoots about Which? or MSE or anyone else's survey results.

Whilst I agree that from an interest-point of view, Nationwide current accounts are a bit of a fuff, I have now completed my 2nd Flexdirect on 5% and closed it. I hope to get another one in a year's time. I have of course kept my entitlement to the FlexClusives alive, and the 5% on their Regular Saver is currently amongst the top RS offers. I have had some good cash ISAs at Nationwide over the years but transferred them out now due to the abysmal rates. I wouldn't touch the Nationwide S&S ISA in it's current form, or any of their investment offerings. I am not interested in loans and mortgages so have no view on their offerings in that regard.

All my comments on the non current account offerings are just by-the-by. The discussion was started as someone said First Direct was so much better than Nationwide as a Which? survey said so. It's a shame that some people actually believe the survey.

Which?, and others, would do so much better encouraging their subscribers to

1. have more than one current account
2. switch accounts whenever there's a good switch offer

Instead, they are still pretty much stuck with the concept of "I bank with X", and that it's more or less a binary choice and a commitment for many years, if not for life.

sauvignon

colsten wrote: »

All my comments on the non current account offerings are just by-the-by. The discussion was started as someone said First Direct was so much better than Nationwide as a Which? survey said so. It's a shame that some people actually believe the survey.

Which?, and others, would do so much better encouraging their subscribers to

1. have more than one current account
2. switch accounts whenever there's a good switch offer

Instead, they are still pretty much stuck with the concept of "I bank with X", and that it's more or less a binary choice and a commitment for many years, if not for life.

A bit off topic, but you seem to be an ardent Which? critic rather than a Nationwide advocate then. This thread wasn't started to prove that FD was much better just because Which? says so. It was referred to in passing as the discussion on N being a bank in all but name evolved. Whoever, be it MSE or Which?, helps the public become more clued up in their financial decision-making to outsmart banks and building societies, like you do apparently, deserves support. For all its faults, Which? is a respected organisation and has led a lot of successful campaigns on behalf of consumers while the MSE can be a valuable source of information for certain groups of people and raises awareness of a wide variety of issues.

"Instead, they are still pretty much stuck with the concept of "I bank with X", and that it's more or less a binary choice and a commitment for many years, if not for life."

You don't know what you're talking about as this is exactly what Which? doesn't do, hence their comparison tables and advice on how to be more savvy. Their very name implies you always have a choice.

System

In reality, it probably had a negliable effect as Halifax would have went bust anyway like all the other ex-Building Societies. Many of the HBOS issues were created by former Halifax people. BOS was fairly prudent & conservative bank - (ironically) similar to Lloyds.

pinkdalek wrote: »

Halifax's biggest mistake was merging with BOS.

EarthBoy

pinkdalek wrote: »

Halifax's biggest mistake was merging with BOS.

Heng_Leng wrote: »

In reality, it probably had a negliable effect as Halifax would have went bust anyway like all the other ex-Building Societies. Many of the HBOS issues were created by former Halifax people. BOS was fairly prudent & conservative bank - (ironically) similar to Lloyds.

So rather than being Halifax's mistake for merging with Bank of Scotland, it sounds like it was BofS's mistake for merging with Halifax then?

bigadaj

EarthBoy wrote: »

So rather than being Halifax's mistake for merging with Bank of Scotland, it sounds like it was BofS's mistake for merging with Halifax then?

No it was the bos part that was toxic and dragged down lloyds with it.

As to whether Halifax would have been better remaining as a building society we won't know, it will have depended on their business model and practices.

Nationwide have survived well due to their scale, and Halifax were larger prior to becoming a bank.

System

It was mismanagement by Crosby, Hornby et all who all came from Halifax and (Halifax) demutualised well before the merger.

Halifax would have been in a similar position to A&L but had the largest exposure to UK property market of all banks.

bigadaj wrote: »

No it was the bos part that was toxic and dragged down lloyds with it.

As to whether Halifax would have been better remaining as a building society we won't know, it will have depended on their business model and practices.

Nationwide have survived well due to their scale, and Halifax were larger prior to becoming a bank.

PeacefulWaters

Halifax and BOS retail bank was profitable throughout 2008.

It's possible that they might have survived without the ridiculous commercial property and international lending that the wider group got involved in.

But they were reliant on wholesale money markets which froze up. So it is more likely that, like A&L, they'd have had to lose the independence anyway.