Nationwide payouts

Uriziel

Nationwide seems to pay their customers a certain amount nearly every year. This year it is going to be £50 and in 2023 I believe it was £100. The requirement is not very high as you only need to have at least one transaction during a certain period.

I have a Nationwide account but do not use it. I am lucky to have used it once last year which is why I am now going to get the £50 payout.
Do you think it is worth it to keep a Nationwide account and just use it once a year to be eligible for any potential payouts?

sparky0138

You're conflating two different bonuses. The £50 payment is a thank you to customers following their Virgin Money takeover.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6593660/big-nationwide-thank-you/p1

The £100 is a Fairer Share bonus which is dependent on financial performance.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6579992/make-sure-you-get-possible-nationwide-fairer-share-bonus-2025/p1

slinger2

As noted you are confusing two different payouts. The £50 one was one-off. The £100 is the "fairer share" payout which is likely to paid out this year too, although no details have been announced.

"The Fairer Share Payment is our way of rewarding those members who choose us for their everyday banking as well as having savings or a mortgage with us."

So the "Fairer Share Payment" is specifically meant to reward members who do their "everyday banking" with Nationwide and as a consequence only goes to a limit number of members.

Lorian

And you are likely to be too late to do anything to get the fair share payment this year now if there is to be one.

Sarahspangles

I think Fairer Share (the annual £100 bonus) is a strategy to retain customers who are profitable for them, because it discourages constant current account switching and encourages current account holders to also borrow or save with them.

I think the Big Thank You (£50) is a one-time attempt to attract the attention of a bigger group of savers/borrowers who don’t have an FlexAccount to the fact they have a model where they pay bonuses.

Neither is guaranteed to be repeated. Fairer Share seems more likely. I would use them for my current account either way, as I’m happy with my FlexAccount. I don’t save much with Nationwide because their rates for Easy Access and ISAs aren’t as competitive, but I use their credit card as it has 0% currency fees and usually have a Regular Saver. 

lindabea

In previous years, the Fairer Share payment has been treated as taxable, but does anyone know if the thank you payment is also taxable 

slinger2

Yes it is (in most cases). "If you are an investing member, or both an investing member and a borrowing member, when we make the payment, it is treated as interest for UK income tax purposes." It'll be paid in the 25/26 tax year.

V3cash

Hi there, I got my payment today but I got 2 lots of £50 deposited separately so have they made a mistake?
anyone else had this??

TheBanker

V3cash said:

Hi there, I got my payment today but I got 2 lots of £50 deposited separately so have they made a mistake?
anyone else had this??

Are any of your accounts joint, because the payment is per member not per account. So a joint account will generare 2 x £50 provided both holders meet the other criteria. 

TheBanker

Sarahspangles said:

I think Fairer Share (the annual £100 bonus) is a strategy to retain customers who are profitable for them, because it discourages constant current account switching and encourages current account holders to also borrow or save with them.

I think the Big Thank You (£50) is a one-time attempt to attract the attention of a bigger group of savers/borrowers who don’t have an FlexAccount to the fact they have a model where they pay bonuses.

Neither is guaranteed to be repeated. Fairer Share seems more likely. I would use them for my current account either way, as I’m happy with my FlexAccount. I don’t save much with Nationwide because their rates for Easy Access and ISAs aren’t as competitive, but I use their credit card as it has 0% currency fees and usually have a Regular Saver. 

I think the £50 is a way of sticking two fingers up at those people who set up petitions etc against the Virgin takeover. I wish Nationwide had cross-referenced the names on the petitions to their member list and removed them from the £50 payment. Might have meant everyone else could have £60

I have my mortgage with Nationwide as well as a regular saver. I also have a current account that I don't really use other than as a backup account (it's quite handy being Visa though as most of my other cards are Mastercard). I keep it alive with a few transactions every month to qualify for any bonuses. I don't think I'll ever use it as my main account though as I don't really get on with their mobile app. 

boingy

TheBanker said:

I wish Nationwide had cross-referenced the names on the petitions to their member list and removed them from the £50 payment. Might have meant everyone else could have £60

More like £50.01 - the "rebels" were not a very significant percentage of the overall membership. Just like most other protest groups. A tiny minority claiming to speak for the majority.