Nationwide Fairer Share Payment 2024

WillPS

gt94sss2 said:

It's also worth mentioning that historically, Nationwide required £750/month to be deposited in a Flexaccount for them to consider a customer was using it as a main account and too qualify for things like free travel insurance and to open some savings accounts.

You're conflating two/three different concepts.

The FlexAccount European travel cover was grandfathered, for a time, for customer who paid in at least £750/month. I don't recall any suggestion that this was a definition of using it as a 'main account' with them, just a minimum level of use to maintain an old benefit. This finished in December 2021; there was no overlap with that and any Fairer Share eligibility.

The 'Fairer Share' scheme has paid out their "most committed members", which includes having a current account with some usage - but again does not need it to be a main account, nor does it intend to approximate that - otherwise simply paying the FlexPlus fee wouldn't qualify (and there are plenty of people who do exactly that making no other use of Nationwide current accounts, because it's a good deal).

Indeed, the whole concept of "main account" is incredibly hard to define across a customer base. You might say wherever your income is paid, but what about customers who for whatever reason have no income? And conversely, if one has their salary paid in to an account but does no other banking in there other than to transfer away, is that really a 'main account'? I personally have 20+ accounts with active usage each month, and I don't have a simple answer to the question "which is your main account?".

Any 'qualifying criteria' are going to be arbitrary by their nature, but in fairness to Nationwide there's a lot of nuance in the Fairer Share criteria.

friolento

WillPS said:

gt94sss2 said:

It's also worth mentioning that historically, Nationwide required £750/month to be deposited in a Flexaccount for them to consider a customer was using it as a main account and too qualify for things like free travel insurance and to open some savings accounts.

You're conflating two/three different concepts.

The FlexAccount European travel cover was grandfathered, for a time, for customer who paid in at least £750/month. I don't recall any suggestion that this was a definition of using it as a 'main account' with them, just a minimum level of use to maintain an old benefit. This finished in December 2021; there was no overlap with that and any Fairer Share eligibility.

The insurance was just one example of things which required a minimum monthly deposit

Section62

ircE said:

Major financial institution literally hands out free money to its customers for the second year in a row, those who miss out complain as if they've personally been victimised (also for the second year in a row). Never change, forumites.

The point (for some of us) is that this isn't "free money".  It is money which belongs to all members of Nationwide Building Society, which Nationwide management have decided to hand out to a select group of members based on some fairly arbitrary criteria.

The argument put forward last year was some of this was 'excess profit' generated on deposits that select group (probably) held in current accounts, therefore it was 'fair' that the £100 goes to qualifying current account holders only.

So if the argument is being put forward this year that all members knew the rules and therefore should have adjusted their banking activity to qualify, then I'd like to put forward an alternative argument that current account customers leaving excess funds in their accounts should have learned that isn't a very clever way of managing their money and moved the excess into savings products or curent accounts paying interest. Except Nationwide have chosen to reward people for doing certain activities in certain months on their current account, not for saving money in deposit accounts.

Disclaimer:  I got the £100 last year and this year.  (So no "whinger" or "bitter" comments from anyone, thanks)

gt94sss2

WillPS said:

gt94sss2 said:

It's also worth mentioning that historically, Nationwide required £750/month to be deposited in a Flexaccount for them to consider a customer was using it as a main account and too qualify for things like free travel insurance and to open some savings accounts.

I don't recall any suggestion that this was a definition of using it as a 'main account' with them, just a minimum level of use to maintain an old benefit.

Many of Nationwide's accounts used to have the following qualification criteria:

Or hold a FlexAccount and:

have been paying in £750+ a month for the last 3 months (excluding transfers from any Nationwide account held by you or anyone else); 

While no connection to the Fairer Share scheme, I was hinting at the fact that they could have made the criteria for it tougher while still being in line with their old policy. 

For what it is worth, Nationwide's annual accounts include

Committed members had their main personal current account with us, or a mortgage of at least £5,000, or at least £1,000 in savings accounts, plus at least one other product.

WillPS

Section62 said:

ircE said:

Major financial institution literally hands out free money to its customers for the second year in a row, those who miss out complain as if they've personally been victimised (also for the second year in a row). Never change, forumites.

The point (for some of us) is that this isn't "free money".  It is money which belongs to all members of Nationwide Building Society, which Nationwide management have decided to hand out to a select group of members based on some fairly arbitrary criteria.

No it doesn't. Money which belongs to a company, any company, is not money which belongs to that company's shareholders. It is the company's money.

Nebulous2

friolento said:

WillPS said:

gt94sss2 said:

It's also worth mentioning that historically, Nationwide required £750/month to be deposited in a Flexaccount for them to consider a customer was using it as a main account and too qualify for things like free travel insurance and to open some savings accounts.

You're conflating two/three different concepts.

The FlexAccount European travel cover was grandfathered, for a time, for customer who paid in at least £750/month. I don't recall any suggestion that this was a definition of using it as a 'main account' with them, just a minimum level of use to maintain an old benefit. This finished in December 2021; there was no overlap with that and any Fairer Share eligibility.

The insurance was just one example of things which required a minimum monthly deposit

Flex direct used to pay interest on the credit balance, up to £2500, for the first year. 

That required a payment in of £1000 a month. 

I paid in at least £1k and persevered with that long after the interest stopped. 

I dropped it though, lost our last year, and added it into my monthly money-go-round after that. 

This is - at least in part- a marketing effort. Encouraging switchers to stay and use their accounts to qualify next year, means they are encouraging increased business in terms of active customers.

Marvel1

eskbanker said:

Marvel1 said:

WillPS said:

Marvel1 said:

I'm not egilable, do payments to bookies online not count?

I have a mortgage with them.

I don't see why they wouldn't. Did you pay in £500/month? How many payments out did you make?

30 in March, all online bookies.

No pay ins to make £500, as it said:

1. Have received at least £500 into the account (excluding transfers in from other Nationwide accounts) and made at least two payments out of the account.

OR

2. Have made at least 10 payments from the account.

Those conditions apply to two months out of three, so how many payments did you make in January and/or February?

Under 10  , damn it

Marvel1

I'm assuming for next year? If so I will ensure 10 payments a month just in case.

Foxhouse

ovusa1 said:

eskbanker said:

ovusa1 said:

eskbanker said:

If you're suggesting that membership for five years would be fairer than rewarding those currently making significant use of the institution's products then that's just using different criteria, and obviously favouring duration of membership can easily be dismissed as unfair too.

ovusa1 said:
I assume you are getting the payment - well done for doing very little in such a short time!

No, your assumption is wrong - as it happens, I've been a member for over five years and didn't qualify for the payment, but I'm not whinging about it!

Quote ' rewarding those currently making significant use of the institution's products'  - do you mean like 1) receive £500 for 2 out of 3 months and make 2 payments out each month, or 2) making 10 payments or 3) if you hold a FlexOne,FlexStudent or FlexGraduate account 1 payment in or out during March, or 4) if you completed a switch using the Current Account Switch Service between 1 January 2024 and 31 March 2024 there is NO requirement for receiving or making payments.                Wow that is some significant use of the institution's products!

So with a minimal amount of effort and planning on your part, you could have got it then?

Why blame Nationwide for your lack of action?

Section62

Foxhouse said:

ovusa1 said:

eskbanker said:

ovusa1 said:

eskbanker said:

If you're suggesting that membership for five years would be fairer than rewarding those currently making significant use of the institution's products then that's just using different criteria, and obviously favouring duration of membership can easily be dismissed as unfair too.

ovusa1 said:
I assume you are getting the payment - well done for doing very little in such a short time!

No, your assumption is wrong - as it happens, I've been a member for over five years and didn't qualify for the payment, but I'm not whinging about it!

Quote ' rewarding those currently making significant use of the institution's products'  - do you mean like 1) receive £500 for 2 out of 3 months and make 2 payments out each month, or 2) making 10 payments or 3) if you hold a FlexOne,FlexStudent or FlexGraduate account 1 payment in or out during March, or 4) if you completed a switch using the Current Account Switch Service between 1 January 2024 and 31 March 2024 there is NO requirement for receiving or making payments.                Wow that is some significant use of the institution's products!

So with a minimal amount of effort and planning on your part, you could have got it then?

Why blame Nationwide for your laziness?

Was it you who complained about how a group of members had been abusive towards Nationwide staff in the carpetbagging days?

If so, I'm surprised you are being so hostile towards a member for simply using their account normally.  The general idea of building societies is that some members deposit money (which is used to offer other members mortgage products) and in return get paid a fair rate of interest on their deposit.  This new idea of profits being distributed to a select few instead - which some participants in this thread seem to be trying hard to normalise - is not what people generally expect building societies to do.

For some of us, the creation of this "us and them" environment in which a lucky few profit, is something which conflicts with the fundamentals of mutuality.

That you accuse the other poster of "laziness" for running their accounts in the normal (for them) way demonstrates (to me at least) why Nationwide's approach to the (un)fairer share is damaging.  If members get rewarded for creating artifical transactions - and those that don't are regarded as "lazy" - then Nationwide have taken a significant departure from what building societies are supposed to be about.