Beware Nationwide Switch Con

RJD2020

Attracted by the £210 to switch offer from Nationwide I made the switch to them and set up 2 new direct debits from other accounts to qualify for the payout.  I've just received this message from Nationwide: "We're really sorry but you didn't transfer 2 Direct Debits as part of the switch from your old account to your new Nationwide account.  So you don't qualify for the switch offer ending 136C."  Talk about needing to read the small print!  I'll be closing the account asap - can't trust these guys - so be sure to check the fine detail if they go fishing again!

penners324

Why didn't it transfer 2 DDs? That's what the cass system does.

We're they not set up in time for the switch?

km1500

sounds like there was a problem with the two direct debits on your old account.

are you certain they were showing there and what they definitely active i.e a payment had been taken from each before the switch

Zanderman

RJD2020 said:

Attracted by the £210 to switch offer from Nationwide I made the switch to them and set up 2 new direct debits from other accounts to qualify for the payout.  I've just received this message from Nationwide: "We're really sorry but you didn't transfer 2 Direct Debits as part of the switch from your old account to your new Nationwide account.  So you don't qualify for the switch offer ending 136C."  Talk about needing to read the small print!  I'll be closing the account asap - can't trust these guys - so be sure to check the fine detail if they go fishing again!

Er... that's not a con. That's just you not reading up the offer. If you didn't have two DD's on the account you were switching in then you didn't qualify. That's not Nationwide being untrustworthy, that's your error. Always read the offer details - and those bits weren't in the small print - they were detailed in the offer conditions in plain sight*. 

Not sure what you mean by "set up 2 new direct debits from other accounts". Generally DD's can't be set up by you from your own accounts - do you mean Standing Orders rather than Direct debits? Which aren't the same and won't even begin to qualify. 

*Edited to add:  The offer terms conditions are here - it's not a long read (just 8 points): https://www.nationwide.co.uk/current-accounts/help/terms/current-account-online-switch-offer-terms-and-conditions/#how-do-i-qualify

 7. You must transfer a minimum of 2 active Direct Debits from the current account being switched to the Nationwide account as part of the switch. Direct Debits set up or transferred after your switch has been started will not count towards this offer. Other types of automated payments, such as standing orders and recurring card payments, won’t count towards this.

Your description of your switch above implies you made the switch, and only then tried to add the DDs - wrong order! And implies you set up 'DDs' from (an odd word to use) other accounts - but DDs go to other accounts and are generally only for services, not for your own account, so it reads as if you actually set up SOs (which you can do for your own accounts) and which do go from other accounts. 

Lots of people on this forum have successfully got that switch bonus - there's loads of advice about it if you look. But the key thing is to understand the terms - as they are crucial.

adamp87

Keep it open for now for the next switch.

Fingerbobs

It sounds like you set up the Direct Debits on the new Nationwide account, after doing the switch? 
It's a very common requirement for switching bonuses that the Direct Debits must exist on the old account and be moved over as part of the switch. Creating Direct Debits after switching doesn't usually qualify (although there are exceptions to this). 

HillStreetBlues

Fingerbobs said:

It sounds like you set up the Direct Debits on the new Nationwide account, after doing the switch? 
It's a very common requirement for switching bonuses that the Direct Debits must exist on the old account and be moved over as part of the switch. Creating Direct Debits after switching doesn't usually qualify (although there are exceptions to this). 

Agreed, 2 active DD are often needed.
I'm going to switch from Nationwide and didn't have any DD in place. Just set up two in readiness  for a possible switch next month.

roadweary

HillStreetBlues said:

Fingerbobs said:

It sounds like you set up the Direct Debits on the new Nationwide account, after doing the switch? 
It's a very common requirement for switching bonuses that the Direct Debits must exist on the old account and be moved over as part of the switch. Creating Direct Debits after switching doesn't usually qualify (although there are exceptions to this). 

Agreed, 2 active DD are often needed.
I'm going to switch from Nationwide and didn't have any DD in place. Just set up two in readiness  for a possible switch next month.

Same.  In fact, on the Lloyds account that I'm switching from, it doesn't show a frequency on the DDs set up, so I'm going to wait until the second DD is taken so that it shows as monthly, just in case.....

eskbanker

RJD2020 said:

Attracted by the £210 to switch offer from Nationwide I made the switch to them and set up 2 new direct debits from other accounts to qualify for the payout.  I've just received this message from Nationwide: "We're really sorry but you didn't transfer 2 Direct Debits as part of the switch from your old account to your new Nationwide account.  So you don't qualify for the switch offer ending 136C."  Talk about needing to read the small print!  I'll be closing the account asap - can't trust these guys - so be sure to check the fine detail if they go fishing again!

Of course people talk about reading the small print, but in this case it was also prominently displayed in large text in the simple six-point offer summary:

How to get our bank account switch offer

• Switch to us online

• Switch a non-Nationwide account to a FlexPlus, FlexDirect or FlexAccount

• Close your non-Nationwide account during your switch. In your online application, when you're asked Do you want us to close your old account?, select Yes

• Complete your switch within 60 days

• This must be the first time you've got one of our switch offers on a sole or joint account since 18 August 2021

• Make sure your non-Nationwide account has 2 or more active Direct Debits

https://web.archive.org/web/20231130101125/https://www.nationwide.co.uk/current-accounts/switch/

sheramber

But it is always somebody else’s fault.

35har1old

km1500 said:

sounds like there was a problem with the two direct debits on your old account.

are you certain they were showing there and what they definitely active i.e a payment had been taken from each before the switch

He didn’t have DD on the account he switched he setup DD that he had with other accounts elsewhere after the switch completed so he didn't qualify for the switch incentive