Nationwide's 'Fairer Share' £100 payment for eligible members

tr7phil

I've actually just opened (i.e. since this announcement) a current account with them which I had been meaning to do for a while in order to access my loyalty saver more easily.  I'm now wondering whether it's worth cycling some money through it every month on the off chance that they do the same next year!  I'm mildly miffed about not getting the payment but the bulk of my savings were removed when other accounts started offering significantly better easy access rates so I actually only have £650 with them currently.

Section62

tr7phil said:

I'm now wondering whether it's worth cycling some money through it every month on the off chance that they do the same next year!

I think it would be a good idea, but the question is how much needs to be cycled through each month.

This is one of the issues with the approach Nationwide have adopted - by setting the reward amount at a relatively high level and limiting the number of members who get anything, it creates a problem that if profits are reduced in this current year (and lets hope they are) then how might a smaller pot be doled out next year?

Sharing (say) £100m between members at £100 each means only one million out of 16.3 million would get a "fairer share".  I'm not sure Nationwide would have the brass neck to do that, but if they did, how to reduce the lucky winner pool down to only 1 million from this year's 3.4m?  The obvious way would be to tweak the criteria to reduce the number of members eligible - so either have a higher pay-in requirement, or require more outgoing payments, or increase the number of months the qualifying activity is required over.

None of us have a crystal ball and can say for sure what Nationwide might do.  Hence the unfairness of this scheme.  Rather than "crying like little babies" as another poster suggests, some of us can see that unpublished retrospective criteria makes it something of a lottery whether any individual member gets the reward or not.  This isn't "fair" by an objective assessment of how a mutual building society should distribute excess profits.

I'm lucky that the way I operate my FlexAccount in the first four months of the year means I'm probably within the top single-digit percentile of Nationwide current account holders in terms of cashflow and payment frequency, so I don't think I'll need to change what I do to meet whatever criteria are applied next year.  However, that lucky chance doesn't stop me feeling for the people who missed out this time, nor those who will need to think carefully and cross their fingers next year that they are able to guess the criteria correctly.

If I were to guess now, I'd pay in at least £1000 per month from October onwards (six months) from an external (non-Nationwide) account, and have at least 5 outgoing payments to non-Nationwide accounts per month.  I'd also consider whether having at least two DD payments per month is necessary.  I guess that would probably cover the most extreme current account conditions - if they are more stringent than that there will be many more disgruntled members.

TheBanker

I haven't seen anyone 'crying like a little baby' on this thread. I have seen long standing members of Nationwide expressing disappointment at the way the Society, which they own on an equal basis with all other members, has dealt with the excess profits. Excess profits that should not have been made in the first place.

Expotter

I just find it pathetic how some of the people who don't agree with other people's opinions put time and effort into trying to insult them and belittle them, but I suppose that’s how “entitled” some feel to make all sorts of assumptions about others' circumstances or behaviour.
It’s like they think they own the truth and everyone who doesn't agree with them is just wrong.
Remember you gain nothing by being disrespectful and mean to others, treat others politely and you may get treated the same way back.
Have a great weekend.

Catplan

Section62 said:

tr7phil said:

I'm now wondering whether it's worth cycling some money through it every month on the off chance that they do the same next year!

If I were to guess now, I'd pay in at least £1000 per month from October onwards (six months) from an external (non-Nationwide) account, and have at least 5 outgoing payments to non-Nationwide accounts per month.  I'd also consider whether having at least two DD payments per month is necessary.  I guess that would probably cover the most extreme current account conditions - if they are more stringent than that there will be many more disgruntled members.

I was going to say pay in £1500, but it just shows the lottery type feeling it’s created, I have direct debits going out. I did qualify this year, I’ve been a member for over 35 years. Although only held adult accounts for 23 years. Didn’t do anything differently this year other than use debit card for shopping cashback a opposed to the usual credit card. I’d have qualified regardless.

coyrls

Maybe not being able to game the system is a feature not a bug.

Section62

coyrls said:

Maybe not being able to game the system is a feature not a bug.

The system can still be gamed - it just means it is probable the cohort representing members with the "deepest relationship" will tend towards a subset of the wealthiest members.  Unless Nationwide come up with a very different approach.

Hugh_Isthis

Selective Mutuality – an Oxymoron
I am 75 years old. I had an account with the Co-operative Permanent Building Society which became Nationwide after a 1970 name change. I had my mortgage with Nationwide. I rejected a group of member’s proposal to privatise in the late 90s. I am now informed that I do not qualify for the £100 "Fairer Share Payment" because I haven't "paid in a minimum of £500 for at least 2 of the months between 01.01.2023 and 31.03.2023" to my Flex account. This in spite of me transferring in a very large sum in Sept 2022 with part out in January 2023. So much for over 50 years of loyal membership. I currently have a substantial sum in a Nationwide savings account but believe me it won't be there for long. I'll leave just £1 so I can vote for removal of directors at the next AGM (Rather underhand of them to confirm Fairer Share eligibility AFTER the last AGM). I'm now thinking I made a big mistake not voting for privatisation back in the 90s rather than the "Selective Mutuality" that the current board has decided on. How can this comply with Nationwide's Customer Charter?

clivep

Hugh_Isthis said:

Selective Mutuality – an Oxymoron
I am 75 years old. I had an account with the Co-operative Permanent Building Society which became Nationwide after a 1970 name change. I had my mortgage with Nationwide. I rejected a group of member’s proposal to privatise in the late 90s. I am now informed that I do not qualify for the £100 "Fairer Share Payment" because I haven't "paid in a minimum of £500 for at least 2 of the months between 01.01.2023 and 31.03.2023" to my Flex account. This in spite of me transferring in a very large sum in Sept 2022 with part out in January 2023. So much for over 50 years of loyal membership. I currently have a substantial sum in a Nationwide savings account but believe me it won't be there for long. I'll leave just £1 so I can vote for removal of directors at the next AGM (Rather underhand of them to confirm Fairer Share eligibility AFTER the last AGM). I'm now thinking I made a big mistake not voting for privatisation back in the 90s rather than the "Selective Mutuality" that the current board has decided on. How can this comply with Nationwide's Customer Charter?

You need to have at least £100 in the savings a/c (or in a current a/c or mortgage) on the relevant date to qualify for a vote.

bundoran

clivep said:

Hugh_Isthis said:

Selective Mutuality – an Oxymoron
I am 75 years old. I had an account with the Co-operative Permanent Building Society which became Nationwide after a 1970 name change. I had my mortgage with Nationwide. I rejected a group of member’s proposal to privatise in the late 90s. I am now informed that I do not qualify for the £100 "Fairer Share Payment" because I haven't "paid in a minimum of £500 for at least 2 of the months between 01.01.2023 and 31.03.2023" to my Flex account. This in spite of me transferring in a very large sum in Sept 2022 with part out in January 2023. So much for over 50 years of loyal membership. I currently have a substantial sum in a Nationwide savings account but believe me it won't be there for long. I'll leave just £1 so I can vote for removal of directors at the next AGM (Rather underhand of them to confirm Fairer Share eligibility AFTER the last AGM). I'm now thinking I made a big mistake not voting for privatisation back in the 90s rather than the "Selective Mutuality" that the current board has decided on. How can this comply with Nationwide's Customer Charter?

You need to have at least £100 in the savings a/c (or in a current a/c or mortgage) on the relevant date to qualify for a vote.

The relevant date for having at least £100 in savings was 4 April 2023. After that you just still need to be "saving or banking in a membership account" by the 17 or 19 July 2023, or still owe at least £100 on a mortgage.

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/about-us/have-your-say/our-agm/