Nationwide FlexDirect

teddysmum

I said I wasn't happy that different interpretations are made by individual branches and she said she was powerless as that is her branch's policy.


I think something really does need sorting with them as she said I couldn't keep the three accounts open then get 5% again in a year (actually the T&Cs do seem to say that) yet two call centre people told me I could do that,but did say that just reinstating the 5% without down-up grade , if done , was in error.

teddysmum

Ed-1 wrote: »

Have Nationwide HQ delegated policy to all branches so they can all now decide how many loans to approve and whether to follow central policy? Unlikely.

We aren't referring to loans, but the interpretation of whether you should get the 5% bonus on a new Flexdirect, after keeping the old one at 1% for a year.

sharpharp

Much much better financially to close the account altogether after the 12 months and then reapply again 12 months later ;-)

No_Name

I'm still confused.

My Flexdirect ended some 3 weeks ago, but I have left as is as the flexclusive reg saver hasn't matured yet. It will in a weeks time or so.

I guess I'll have to downgrade to a Flexaccount as soon as my flexclusive reg saver has paid out, then apply for a new flexclusive saver? I assume I will have already served the 3 month paying requirements?

teddysmum

This is the part of the T&Cs she was referring to and , I admit, was what made me ask, on here, how people had managed to keep the account open on 1% when this implies that you cannot have an open Flexdirect, regardless of whether it pays interest at any rate.


If you have previously held a FlexDirect account in the last 12 months, you will not be entitled to the introductory rate or offer under a new agreement and therefore you will receive the standard 1% gross p.a/ AER (variable) interest rate.

teddysmum

sharpharp wrote: »

Much much better financially to close the account altogether after the 12 months and then reapply again 12 months later ;-)

Only if you can find somewhere paying more than 1% . 1% as a holding place is better than many accounts which pay as little as 0.15% .


You can have regular savers, but they don't help when you end up with a lump sum, such as when another regular saver ends and pays up.


PS Sorted my problem as I'm going to close the Flexdirects (keep one Flexaccount for the savers) and go for Club Lloyds accounts: 2% on more money with a branch 500 metres from a free car park, 5 minutes from home.

teddysmum

No_Name wrote: »

I'm still confused.

My Flexdirect ended some 3 weeks ago, but I have left as is as the flexclusive reg saver hasn't matured yet. It will in a weeks time or so.

I guess I'll have to downgrade to a Flexaccount as soon as my flexclusive reg saver has paid out, then apply for a new flexclusive saver? I assume I will have already served the 3 month paying requirements?

I believe that you can downgrade while the saver is running, but then I was misinformed about that, too.


I asked if leaving just a joint account was ok to cover the terms of individual savers and was reminded that the requirement is 3 months of at least £750 in for a Flexaccount. I pointed out that surely paying the £1000 for a year covered this and she agreed but (I'm sure wrongly) added that you still have to feed in £750 a month. (Actually no problem for us as 2X £500 is being paid in to transfer to the savers, but others may not want to put as much as £750 away.)

xylophone

I contacted Nationwide through the secure on line messaging system a couple of months ago.


Replies below.

Thanks for your message. I would like to apologise as I've read through some of our responses and you've been given incorrect information. We never used to be able to have the interest on a FlexDirect account amended. Our members used to have to close or downgrade their FlexDirect account after the 12 month period expired. Once they had waited a further 12 months they could then either open a new FlexDirect or upgrade their existing current account to a FlexDirect, the 5% would then be paid for a further 12 months. As we always take on feedback from our members, it was decided to ease our members journey, the above was no longer applicable. All we have to do now is complete a form to have the interest paid at 5%, after our members have waited 12 months. On checking your account, I can see the interest rate changed to 1% on the 06/11/2015, this means you should have been receiving the 5% interest from the 7th November 2016. What I’ve done is completed a form to have this amended and backdated. Please allow 3-5 working days for this to be processed. Please accept my apology for any inconvenience this may have caused. If there is anything else I can help you with, please reply to this message or give us a call on 0800 302011.


Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding your concerns. Your concerns You were unhappy as you were incorrectly advised we could not convert the rate of your FlexDirect account back to 5% after you held the account at 1% for a year after the initial 5% rate expired without closing the account and reapplying and you since found out via an online forum that we are in fact able to switch the account. Our findings Please allow me to apologise that you were incorrectly advised that you had to close the account and apply for a new product to achieve the 5% promotional interest rate. We recently allowed members to switch their existing accounts back to 5% after a year at 1% as an exception and this does not appear within our terms and conditions or our website as a result. We do not automatically switch the account back to 5% after a year at 1% as this is only changed as an exception upon member’s requests.

teddysmum

I've seen your post before and mentioned the like, as well as myself being given different advice from their general customer service line, re keeping the accounts open at 1%.


Their loss (though I don't think they're bothered ) as I'm going to downgrade to one joint Flexaccount and replace the others with Lloyds accounts. Only 2%, but better than 1%, paying out on more money and the branch is within walking distance of a free carpark---sorted.


The only problem is needing two DDs per account, so hope two Tesco internet savers, one in my name and one in my husband's, each taking £5 from each Lloyds Club account will be ok (problem may be that they are the same type of account with the same bank ie Tesco)

xylophone

I myself have a Lloyds Club account and "service" it with two Tesco DDs, from a couple of my Tesco savings accounts.