£100 payment - Nationwide Fairer Share

HonestJohn

Nationwide seem to be favouring their current account holders. They recently gave them £30 for doing very little. This society was borne out of saving and mortgages. They seem to be forgetting their roots. Any business that does this will lose support.

HonestJohn

MattMattMattUK said:

Business tries to do something helpful and nice, a bunch of people have a tantrum, no wonder most just do not bother.

Not any sort of business though. The society is a mutual owned by it's members. The money it is distributing is theirs. Hard to believe this was once the Co-operative Permanent Society.

oldagetraveller1

I am not looking for any sort of thanks, but I really do sympathise with those who have been "members" for years and find they are not eligible.

My Daughter has had over £13k in their Loyalty Saver for some time, has a current account, not used, with £0 balance. Obviously not used. No £200.

On the other hand, I switched to them last October for the incentive and have also received two of the supermarket spend bonuses.

Fortunately I did open, and still have, a savings account with them. E-mail received that I qualify for the £200.

It does seem odd that a Johnny come lately receives £200 for being a "member" for 7 months, unknowingly meets the criteria, and people who have been with them for years, mortgage, savings etc. lose out.

Has anyone chosen to opt out?

TheBanker

MattMattMattUK said:

Business tries to do something helpful and nice, a bunch of people have a tantrum, no wonder most just do not bother.

1. They are not a business. They are a mutual organisation owned by and for the benefit of members. They have taken profit generated by some members who have mortgages and savings accounts, and handed it to other members who have current accounts. This is not acting in the best interests of the members as a whole.

2. I haven't seen anyone having a tantrum. I've seen people saying they are not happy with the way the organisation that they part own has acted, and that they intend to inform the current management of their displeasure.

3. My issue is the way they describe it as a 'Fairer Share'. If they'd said they were running a marketing campaign to promote current accounts (like the switch incentives, refer a friend offers and the 5% supermarket cashback) then I wouldn't have had a problem with it. 

Nossen66

Of course, it is easy to get more than £100 by transferring to one of the banks offering £150-£200 for switching (see MSE). If Nationwide sees this as a way to gain more current account customers then they may be disappointed).

Section62

Nossen66 said:

If Nationwide sees this as a way to gain more current account customers then they may be disappointed).

I don't think so, for as long as I can remember Nationwide have been offering incentives to open a current account with them, the number of current accounts on their books has been steadily increasing. IIRC it was the linked e-savings which hooked me.

This is a really clever marketing strategy because existing members without a Nationwide current account who would never have switched their current account to Nationwide in a month of Sundays, will now see that they've missed out on £100 and have the simple option of opening a current account to get the reward next year (if it happens).

I'd guess Nationwide have gambled the number of members closing their current account in disgust will be far fewer than the hard-to-get members who will now be opening a current account, even if they don't switch another one in.

In essence Nationwide have created a class system within the membership - current account holders = 1st Class, non-current account holders = 2nd class.  With a 'free' £100 each year, who wouldn't want to elevate themselves into the 1st Class lounge?

TheBanker

Section62 said:

Nossen66 said:

If Nationwide sees this as a way to gain more current account customers then they may be disappointed).

I don't think so, for as long as I can remember Nationwide have been offering incentives to open a current account with them, the number of current accounts on their books has been steadily increasing. IIRC it was the linked e-savings which hooked me.

This is a really clever marketing strategy because existing members without a Nationwide current account who would never have switched their current account to Nationwide in a month of Sundays, will now see that they've missed out on £100 and have the simple option of opening a current account to get the reward next year (if it happens).

I'd guess Nationwide have gambled the number of members closing their current account in disgust will be far fewer than the hard-to-get members who will now be opening a current account, even if they don't switch another one in.

In essence Nationwide have created a class system within the membership - current account holders = 1st Class, non-current account holders = 2nd class.  With a 'free' £100 each year, who wouldn't want to elevate themselves into the 1st Class lounge?

The problem they'll have is if the savings and mortgage customers move because they're hacked off. If they end up with a whole load of current accounts with standing orders in and out to meet the minimum requirements, and a whole load of savings accounts with £100 balances, I doubt there will be much profit to go around. (This won't happen though - the numbers who will actually move their accounts will be miniscule. Mortgage customers generally won't be able to due to fixed rates and ERCs)

Ed-1

This scheme can be summed up in this video:

https://streamable.com/l6sn3o

Sometimes you just get lucky!

ForumUser7

I qualify, but I can see why some who don’t are frustrated by it.

I think a possible good approach would’ve been to pay £100 to all eligible voting members who had been with nationwide for at least 1 year (like YBS Loyalty accounts etc.) as of yesterday but still do hold a current account with nationwide. This would mean they had to have (I think) at least £100 in savings, or at least £100 left on a mortgage. 

I can see the importance of the current account - they couldn’t necessarily put the funds into a savings account as it may have limited access, or limited deposits etc. Sending out lots of cheques would incur significant postal costs, and requesting payment details for external accounts would cause additional admin.

This would cater for members who had more than one CA with nationwide for budgeting reasons, or who have used them for years for savings and mortgages but do not frequently use the CA. I can understand why they are upset.

Perhaps there could also be criteria to have fulfilled (not pre-announced) for anyone with less than a years membership, so they would get it if it became clear they had used nationwide as their main provider.

That said, it would open it up to more members so the payout may be diminished which would be a shame for those of us who happened to fulfil the criteria anyway.

I read some comments saying that nationwide should’ve published criteria beforehand so people could fulfil it, but I disagree with this. This would encourage those who were just looking for money, and who did not have a ‘deep relationship’ with nationwide. In short, I believe the purpose of this was to reward those who used nationwide as their main provider, or at least used the accounts frequently.

This seems to have become a very contentious topic, so I don’t wish to cause anyone any offence - this is simply a way I would have organised it if I was in charge. I’m sure my way has its flaws too. If people have strong feelings on how this was administered, and wish to continue with nationwide still, joining their connect community (link posted several times in the thread (I think) by others) may be a good next step - you can then contribute towards suggestions for future initiatives if they ask about them.

HonestJohn

Nationwide should emulate the old Coop. Pay a divi to members.