Nationwide - 'Mutual building society'?

vm2pensioner

A 'mutual building society', an institution set up to encourage savers to deposit money to lend to other members and provide them with the ability to buy a home, has created a two-tier class of membership. No matter how long a member has been a saver with the society, nor how much the member has on deposit with the society, whether or not that member has concurrently a current account with the society, you only get the 'fairer share' £100 if you have and use the current account a specified number of times, and over a limited and specific period. All  these are retrospective conditions. Furthermore, you can't just have deposited money in the current account, you actually have to  have made withdrawals: in other words, use the 'mutual building society' as a high-street bank! Perhaps this is why the suffix 'building society'  seemingly has become less and less prominent in the Nationwide marketing. Perhaps, also, it is time that Nationwide had the courage of its apparent convictions and said, honestly, we'd rather be a bank, and then demutualise. Brilliant own-goal from the Nationwide.

pridehappy

I personally don’t think Nationwide want to demutualise, as their whole business is made on mutuality and when you take a look at their website, it’s clear to see.

I believe the reason why they have put restrictions on the £100 is to ensure you are investing into the society and ensuring that you aren’t just opening it for the offer. I do agree that it should have been given to savings customers with a minimum balance though. 

TheBanker

pridehappy said:

I personally don’t think Nationwide want to demutualise, as their whole business is made on mutuality and when you take a look at their website, it’s clear to see.

I believe the reason why they have put restrictions on the £100 is to ensure you are investing into the society and ensuring that you aren’t just opening it for the offer. I do agree that it should have been given to savings customers with a minimum balance though. 

'Nationwide' don't and can't want anything as it is an organisation which does not have feelings or emotions.

The question is whether (a) the board want to demutualise and (b) whether the members want to.

Given anyone who's joined Nationwide since 1997 has signed any potential windfall over to charity, I can't see it happening.

I think the reason for the restrictions on the £100 were to distribute in a way that generated positive headlines. If they'd given everyone £20, or used a formula that resulted in variable payments depending on products/balances/length of membership, they wouldn't have got the publicity they did. £100 is a nice round number. 

They question is why, as a mutual organisation with no shareholders, they made an excess £340m profit in the first place. 

[Deleted User]

For once a little bit of loyalty was rewarded. The biggest moaners seem to be those who spend time switching bank accounts in order to gain from any potential offer. This time they lost out 🥳.

The very reason I stick with Nationwide is that it is a mutual. I am not alone in that opinion either. 

roddydogs

Should voted for conversion when you had the chance some years ago.

TheBanker

[Deleted User] said:

For once a little bit of loyalty was rewarded. The biggest moaners seem to be those who spend time switching bank accounts in order to gain from any potential offer. This time they lost out 🥳.

The very reason I stick with Nationwide is that it is a mutual. I am not alone in that opinion either. 

That really isn't the case. If you look back through this thread, or the comments on Nationwide's Facebook page, there are people who have been mortgage/savings account holders for decades who have missed out because they don't have a current account (or have one, but didn't make the necessary sequence of transactions to qualify). 

I met both the mortgage and savings criteria, but not the current account criteria. Am I somehow less loyal than someone who opened a current account in October to receive the switcher cash, opened a Help to Save account with a £50 per month standing order, and arranged for a monthly credit (which is then immediately withdrawn) to qualify for the 5% current account interest, and made a few debit card payments in in February and March to qualify for the 5% supermarket cashback?

Becles

[Deleted User] said:

For once a little bit of loyalty was rewarded. The biggest moaners seem to be those who spend time switching bank accounts in order to gain from any potential offer. This time they lost out 🥳.

The very reason I stick with Nationwide is that it is a mutual. I am not alone in that opinion either. 

30+ years customer.
Savings criteria met.
Current account income met.
Current account withdrawals met.

Don't qualify because I have two current accounts for budgeting reasons. First one fails criteria as it doesn't have external bill payments coming out of it. Bills current account fails criteria as it's funded by the first current account.

TheBanker

Becles said:

[Deleted User] said:

For once a little bit of loyalty was rewarded. The biggest moaners seem to be those who spend time switching bank accounts in order to gain from any potential offer. This time they lost out 🥳.

The very reason I stick with Nationwide is that it is a mutual. I am not alone in that opinion either. 

30+ years customer.
Savings criteria met.
Current account income met.
Current account withdrawals met.

Don't qualify because I have two current accounts for budgeting reasons. First one fails criteria as it doesn't have external bill payments coming out of it. Bills current account fails criteria as it's funded by the first current account.

Have you written to Nationwide to make your disappointment known? I think it's important that they understand there criteria have, perhaps accidentally, upset a lot of loyal, longstanding, profitable customers. 

wiseonesomeofthetime

Becles said:

[Deleted User] said:

For once a little bit of loyalty was rewarded. The biggest moaners seem to be those who spend time switching bank accounts in order to gain from any potential offer. This time they lost out 🥳.

The very reason I stick with Nationwide is that it is a mutual. I am not alone in that opinion either. 

30+ years customer.
Savings criteria met.
Current account income met.
Current account withdrawals met.

Don't qualify because I have two current accounts for budgeting reasons. First one fails criteria as it doesn't have external bill payments coming out of it. Bills current account fails criteria as it's funded by the first current account.

No external bills come out of my current account, yet I still qualify.

AFAIK the criteria doesn't have a clause on external payments being a requirement 🤷‍♂️

badmemory

I have got the £100 & I fund my current account which then funds my regular saver & then I defund my current account & let us not forget my one annual direct debit.

As for how there is that much to share, well perhaps we should be asking ourselves what the actual banks have done with their windfall profits rather than criticising the Nationwide, because the interest rates with them have been lower & slower than the Nationwide.

p00hsticks

I confess I do find all the uproar on these boards  regarding Nationwide's mutual status just now strange, when it has been offering switch bonuses to new customers for a while and no-one here seems to have found that use of customers money either objectionable or discriminatory against its long term existing members...