£100 payment - Nationwide Fairer Share

DS_MSE

To coin that famous phrase credited to French President De Gaulle in 1940 …

‘12.6M Disqualified and disgruntled Members may have lost the Battle but have not necessarily lost the War’ when each and every one of us, will I assume, still have a vote on resolutions at the next AGM - or are we going to lose that as well ?

With only 530,000 or so Votes cast on each resolution last year perhaps its time for some of us to use our Votes and not throw them in the Bin !

I only hope Nationwide have put some of their Profits aside, as I suspect they may well need a bigger venue for their next AGM and may even end up having to recruit a new CEO and Board, after they have trashed some 36 years, of many longer standing Members, trust & respect.

TheElectricCow

TheBanker said:

TheElectricCow said:

DS_MSE said:

… mind you ‘hats off’ as a good return for them - equivalent to 4.16 % and even better for qualifying  Joint Account holders @ 8.33% in just 5 Months !

Shame the rest of us aren’t getting the similar returns for our Savings where Nationwide as of COB today (22/05/23) is yet again paying up to 0.40% less than some comparable products from other mainstream Building Societies  … mind you when they waste money on Headline Grabbing Gimmicks and ‘buying’ new Current Account Members, that perhaps is to be expected.

I found this to be an interesting thought which prompted me to check the numbers on my own Nationwide current account that I’ve held for ~6 months with £1500. I’ve had £36.26 in interest, a £200 switching bonus, and soon will receive this extra £100, totalling £336.26 in money from Nationwide. 

That’s a 22.4% return for me in those 6 months, so clearly my relationship with Nationwide must be very deep! 

Seems like a highly inefficient use of their funds from my perspective as they’re unlikely to ever see that amount back from my custom with them, but if they want to keep throwing money at me who am I to refuse?

You missed out - you could have got £30 supermarket cashback too.

Meanwhile I've paid £1,361 interest on my mortgage so far this year. I think the saver who deposited the money I borrowed will have earned about £900 interest. It seems you're the one whose benefited most out of this!

I had seen their supermarket cashback offer, but fortunately I already have access to an overall better offering through employee benefits, where I can get the money with fewer restrictions at no limit as a discount rather than cashback (and can still pay with a cashback credit card for an additional bonus+a month of interest by keeping the money in a savings account until it’s time to pay up).

Would be a very nice extra for someone without that facility, but for me taking even more money from Nationwide wouldn’t have worked to my advantage after all!

Yorkshire_Pud

I’ve had plenty of switch payments and even Debbie’s tsb Quidco £50’s so this isn’t the end of the world.

What does hurt though is the feeling of being EXCLUDED from a party I should have been invited to as a long term Nationwide member.

Seems Debbie, who went on to close quite a few tsb branches but who does seem to know how to get failing companies back on the straight and narrow thinks Nationwide is a bank not a building society so applying her default ‘bizness’ skills to it thereby disenfranchising the majority of Nationwide members who will be getting nowt.

It’s one for one and all for one after all Debbie Crosbie!? Sowing the seeds of disenchantment within a mutual organisation for a cheap, relatively, publicity stunt (because Nationwide is still keeping the majority of the vast profits generated by not paying very good interest rates (apart from the lucky one year of perks recent members who get the £100 then drop you when the tree is bare, leaving the long term members/mugs to keep the ship afloat, glug)  ⛴️ 

scepticOfCheltenham

Despite the fact that Nationwide have told both me and my wife that we do qualify for this payment, I find the term "fairer share" payment quite offensive.  The only reason we are getting this payment is that Nationwide have kept their savings rates very low and made excessive profits from those people who have been loyal to them and kept their savings with them.  We have had vey few savings with them for some time now, and it is only the short-term low-amount high-interest accounts that have had any attraction at all.

If the Nationwide board really wanted to be fairer, they would pay competitive interest rates to savers instead of handing out random amounts according to some arbitrary criteria they have dreamt up. 

They may have produced a quick feel-good reaction from some of those lucky enough to be chosen to get a payment, but it seems to me that it is just another step away from proper fair banking and into the realms of an arbitrary lottery.  Is it even legal for them to distribute our funds in this way?

xylophone

 Is it even legal for them to distribute our funds in this way?

I would be very surprised if their lawyers had not checked that the process was legal.

Whether it was ethical is another matter.

Section62

scepticOfCheltenham said:

Despite the fact that Nationwide have told both me and my wife that we do qualify for this payment, I find the term "fairer share" payment quite offensive.  The only reason we are getting this payment is that Nationwide have kept their savings rates very low and made excessive profits from those people who have been loyal to them and kept their savings with them.  We have had vey few savings with them for some time now, and it is only the short-term low-amount high-interest accounts that have had any attraction at all.

If the Nationwide board really wanted to be fairer, they would pay competitive interest rates to savers instead of handing out random amounts according to some arbitrary criteria they have dreamt up. 

They may have produced a quick feel-good reaction from some of those lucky enough to be chosen to get a payment, but it seems to me that it is just another step away from proper fair banking and into the realms of an arbitrary lottery.  Is it even legal for them to distribute our funds in this way?

I'm in the same position and completely agree with you.

If people step back from the position of "I've got an unexpected £100, lucky me" and see this payment in the round, what it represents is a failure of management.

The money exists to give away in the first place because Nationwide management have failed to offer members the best value products.

Now the same management team get the kudos of handing out our £340m in the way they see fit, with very little consultation with the membership.

The question members should be asking is how was this level of excess profit allowed to happen, and what will be done to stop it happening again.  Instead some of the lucky few are rubbing their hands and looking forward to the same happening next year.

Not me though.  I'd prefer good value financial products all year round. Not a randomly distributed 'lottery' prize. (I have some Premuim Bonds for the latter)

[Deleted User]

I find it slightly bizarre that there are some people moaning about getting / not payments, I for one am very grateful and received a letter through the post this morning confirming that I will receive my £100 payment.  

[Deleted User]

Nationwide like to paint themselves as some kind of socialist organisation but this is just marketing. As I am sure many on here are aware. While it is true they are a building society, most of it has been stripped away and they operate very similar to a bank and have profit from your debt, pay vast salaries to the top and cut jobs. I'd expect regular payments of this kind yearly if the bank makes a profit, all profit going back into the organisation to allow lending on better terms etc etc to convince me.

Section62

[Deleted User] said:

I find it slightly bizarre that there are some people moaning about getting / not payments, I for one am very grateful and received a letter through the post this morning confirming that I will receive my £100 payment.  

It is so much easier to be happy when you are one of the winners.

Best of luck for next year.

Chayes17

I’m a bit fed up as I’ve been with them 12 years. My current account fulfills the criteria but I recently have had to spend my savings due to cost of living crisis. That will have happened to a lot of people….people that really need it to help them get through current times. I understand they have to draw the line somewhere but I’d hardly call it fair and equitable (especially if you qualify when you only owe £100 on your mortgage). It’s made me question if I should bank elsewhere. There are banks that offer better rates AND I’ll get switching cash!! I know some of you will hate this post but it’s a bitter pill to swallow…..missing out cos I’m struggling