Nationwide FlexDirect

colsten

gc747 said:

I’m 100% sure that if you were to set up your account today you would be able to access the 5% interest for 12 months. 

You are right. For FlexDirects opened before 01/05/2020, meeting the accounts T&Cs, the AER remains to be 5%, like it's been for several years, for the first 12 months since account opening.

wiseonesomeofthetime

Received my email from Nationwide confirming the drop in interest rate from 1 July 2020, yet still a requirement for a minimum £1,000 deposit per month in return for that paltry 0.25% on the first £1,500.

This is such a difficult time for everyone and as a building society, we want to give our members all the support we can; which is why we’re really sorry to let you know that from 1 July 2020, we’re going to lower the interest rate we pay on money in your FlexDirect account(s). We’re also reducing the maximum amount of money that we’ll pay interest on.  Why are we making these changes?  Because, back in March the Bank of England reduced the base rate to a historic low to help deal with the impact of the coronavirus on homes and businesses. And, unfortunately, cuts in the base rate also affect how much interest we can pay our members.  We know this isn’t news you wanted to hear, but sometimes we need to reduce our interest rates to make sure we’re being fair to all our members and to stay financially strong, so we’re still here for you in the future.

Your new interest rate on money in your account  Before 1 July 2020  1% AER (0.99% gross a year) variable interest on balances up to £2,500. On and after 1 July 2020  0.25% AER (0.24% gross a year) variable interest on balances up to £1,500. To receive this interest, you’ll need to continue to pay in at least £1,000 a month, not counting transfers from other Nationwide accounts held by you or anyone else or Visa credits, such as refunds you may receive back in to your account. These changes apply to all FlexDirect accounts you may hold, unless one of those accounts is earning our introductory interest rate of 5% AER – we’ll write to you separately to let you know which changes apply to this account.

With the loss of the regular saver too, the only thing keeping me with Nationwide at the moment is the current account requirement for my Select credit card. Only keeping that card as a Visa back up to my Mastercard provider of decent overseas exchange rate spending (Monzo and Starling).

I bet the board will have a nice bonus this year, regardless of all the cuts.

Contador38

What about we (as members) reject the Board's proposals concerning their 'fat bonus'.
We normally receive the voting papers re AGM Board remunaration etc.
I bet we normally discard these papers. May be it is about time to do something

eskbanker

Contador38 said:

What about we (as members) reject the Board's proposals concerning their 'fat bonus'.
We normally receive the voting papers re AGM Board remunaration etc.
I bet we normally discard these papers. May be it is about time to do something

It's obviously more constructive for members to actually exercise their voting rights rather than moaning on forums, but don't overestimate your prospects of success, the board remuneration proposals were carried with over 91% of the vote last year, despite plenty of similar adverse comment on here!

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/-/media/MainSite/documents/about/have-your-say/FSUA41-19-July-19.pdf

castle96

Pretty sure you cant have the benefit/rate on this a/c if you've held one before. Yet I opened one. When I looked on line I now have 4 ! sitting with all nil balance

colsten

castle96 said:

Pretty sure you cant have the benefit/rate on this a/c if you've held one before. Yet I opened one. When I looked on line I now have 4 ! sitting with all nil balance

Nationwide has always allowed you to hold 4 current accounts. They have been very clear though for a few years now that you cannot get the 5% on a FlexDirect in your name more than once any longer (it used to be possible for a short period). You might be able to still get it on a joint account but you'd have to act fast to beat their rate drop.

Ed-1

castle96 said:

Pretty sure you cant have the benefit/rate on this a/c if you've held one before. Yet I opened one. When I looked on line I now have 4 ! sitting with all nil balance

You mean you had 3 existing ones already? 

castle96

yeah, somehow... shall not bother with the new one (how did they let me open it, as I didn't qualify !, in view of the drop in rates.

Ed-1

castle96 said:

yeah, somehow... shall not bother with the new one (how did they let me open it, as I didn't qualify !, in view of the drop in rates.

You can have up to 4 FlexDirect accounts. None of them qualify for the promo 5% rate though.

[Deleted User]

Just had a message from Nationwide (in response to another question I had to them about the 5% Flex account) - and it included the following - 

Following the Bank of England's recent rate cut we are soon to make changes to several of our current and savings accounts, the Flex Direct being no exception to this.  I have listed below the changes to take effect on new account openings wef 1st May 20 and existing accounts wef 1st July 20:-

At a glance, we are:

• reducing the interest rate for the first 12 months from 5% to 2%
• reducing the interest rate after 12 months from 1% to 0.25%
• reducing the balance cap from £2,500 to £1,500

Please note: members who have held a FlexDirect account before will not benefit from the current promotional offer of 5% (or the new 2% rate) again. However, members are eligible to benefit on a new joint account, as long as they have not shared a FlexDirect account with that person before. For members who do not qualify for the introductory rate, the current 1% (or new 0.25% rate) will apply, depending on when the member completes their application.