Nationwide after BoE Interest Rate rise

polyphonic99 · 6 August 2018 at 11:12PM

Nationwide will not pass on full 0.25% interest rate rise to most savers

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/aug/06/nationwide-will-not-pass-on-full-interest-rate-rise-to-most-savers

Nationwide is not passing on last week's Bank of England 0.25% rate rise in full to savers in the first sign that big financial institutions will use the base rate to increase profit margins.

The building society, one of the biggest mortgage and savings institutions in the UK, said that while its tracker mortgage customers will see a 0.25% rise in their payments, many of its savers will see only a 0.1% increase in rates.

Thanks Nationwide, I will be moving any remaining money in my accounts with you just as soon as your competitors raise their rates by 0.25%, which for instance Skipton has already promised to do.

mije1983 · 6 August 2018 at 11:22PM

They won't be the only ones that don't increase savings accounts by 0.25%.

polyphonic99 wrote: »

Thanks Nationwide, I will be moving any remaining money in my accounts with you just as soon as your competitors raise their rates by 0.25%, which for instance Skipton has already promised to do.

I won't be moving. They still have one of the market leading current accounts for the first year, and their RS is also one of the top ones. Both give 5% which is far in excess of most other lenders.

They obviously don't have feel they have a need for extra cash at the moment, and that my above 2 points are enough for them not to need to increase rates across the board.

jsinc · 6 August 2018 at 11:49PM

To be fair most savings accounts aren't bank rate trackers. But the HTB ISA rate is apparently going up from 2% to 2.5%, so their priority should be clear if it wasn't already (the Mortgage Works). Nationwide's era as a society working to affordably finance/build members' housing ended a long time ago, as did any meaningful 'mutuality' across borrowers and lenders.

Malchester · 7 August 2018 at 8:05AM

Have become increasingly disenchanted with Nationwide over recent years now only have Flex and loyalty single access ISA with them. ISA will be moving soon when things settle. Have been with them over 30 years but they have no loyalty to me so why should I have any to them. Even their loyalty rates are appalling compared to othe financial instituions

Reed_Richards · 7 August 2018 at 8:09AM

polyphonic99 wrote: »

Thanks Nationwide, I will be moving any remaining money in my accounts with you just as soon as your competitors raise their rates by 0.25%, which for instance Skipton has already promised to do.

I suspect Nationwide will not be the only financial institution not to pass-on the full rate rise; they're just the first to own-up to this. I'm sure some institutions will claim they already increased their rates in anticipation of this change. And surely any decision to move should be based on what the rates actually are, not on by how much they have risen.

Zanderman · 7 August 2018 at 8:48AM

polyphonic99 wrote: »

Thanks Nationwide, I will be moving any remaining money in my accounts with you just as soon as your competitors raise their rates by 0.25%, which for instance Skipton has already promised to do.[/FONT]

Reed_Richards wrote: »

I suspect Nationwide will not be the only financial institution not to pass-on the full rate rise; they're just the first to own-up to this. I'm sure some institutions will claim they already increased their rates in anticipation of this change. And surely any decision to move should be based on what the rates actually are, not on by how much they have risen.

Indeed, it's the actual rate that's the issue, not how much it's gone up by, so polyphonic99's probably looking at the wrong measure if they simply want to move to accounts that rise by .25% - as many that don't will still be better. Nationwide will still have very competitive (some of the best available anywhere) rates, esp on the FlexDirect (1st year only) and the Reg Saver (ongoing)

And, as others have pointed out, a BoE rate rise often isn't followed through, especially for savngs products where the rate is already much higher.

HappyHarry · 7 August 2018 at 9:01AM

This just shows how ten years of low interest rates changes the public perception of what to expect from deposit accounts.

Traditionally, banks have lent out (in the form of mortgages and loans) at slightly above base rate, and borrowed (from savers) at slightly below base rates. The banks' profit has been made from that margin between the two rates.

However, since the base rate has been under 1% for nearly ten years, the banks have been unable to borrow from savers at such low rates, and have had to both lend and borrow at above base rates.

Now that the base rate is starting to increase, the public expects that all base rate rises should be expected to be reflected in both the banks' borrowing and lending rates.

Whereas in reality, the borrowing and lending rates will trend back to sitting just above and below the base rate.

bowlhead99 · 7 August 2018 at 9:08AM

Reed_Richards wrote: »

And surely any decision to move should be based on what the rates actually are, not on by how much they have risen.

True. Pick a financial institution and stay with it if it suits you to do so, or move if it suits you to do so. It doesn't really matter what the most recent change to that financial institution was; there may be another one within a year anyway, and you don't know if they will blindly follow that one or not, so what matters is the service they offer and the rates they offer

Certainly in 2009 when the base rate fell to 0.5%, people like the OP wouldn't have been admonishing the [insert financial institution of choice] for failing to instantly "pass on" the full extent of the base rate change on their savings account. They were quite happy for their bank or building society to be aware of what their competition were doing and set their rates at levels which were judged to best meet the objectives of attracting sufficient deposits to continue to operate, and sufficient profit margin to build reserves to meet their business risk and regulatory requirements.

I say "quite happy" - obviously they don't want financial institutions to make profits or grow their business in case it makes them 'lose touch' with customers, and they would still be moaning that the interest rates should be higher... but what I mean is they were happy for the rates not to instantly plummet to the floor to match the base rate. Yet now people think it's outrageous if savings rates don't match base rates tick for tick.

...while its tracker mortgage customers will see a 0.25% rise in their payments...

because those tracker mortgage customers explicitly bought a financial product that tracks the base rate up and down, and it just went up by 0.25%...

many of its savers will see only a 0.1% increase in rates.

because the saving rates offered on their accounts are variable and can be changed from time to time at such times and amounts the financial institution would like to change them, with regard to factors such as profitability and whatever rival providers choose to offer.

Personally, my Nationwide mortgage rate is fixed for several more years, while only one of my savings accounts (not a Nationwide one) is fixed. I'll deposit my spare money wherever I like, based on rates available and other factors; that's the same situation 'post base rate rise' as it was at any point in the past.

Malchester · 7 August 2018 at 9:12AM

Absolutely right. It's not how much rates go up or down that matters, it's what the rates actually are. Much better rates can be found from other financial institutions than Nationwide, even if they raised their rates by the full .25% or more. But there other factors as well, like ease of access, speed of easy access, how fast faster payments are processed etc !!!8230; To be fair to Nationwide they are excellent at processing faster payments (like Tesco Bank) unlike others where the process is much slower

d63 · 7 August 2018 at 9:44AM

that the nationwide will not be raising its saving rates by much is not exactly surprising. (+0.1% on their 15year loyalty saver)
what is so irritating is their outrageous "on your side, our only focus is you" attitude when they do it. (https://www.nationwide.co.uk/support/support-articles/services/savings-promises)
to be mugged and have your wallet stolen is bad enough. when the mugger smiles when they do it is what makes the experience almost unbearable.
sometimes i just want to scream.
very loudly.

eskbanker · 7 August 2018 at 9:53AM

d63 wrote: »

that the nationwide will not be raising its saving rates by much is not exactly surprising. (+0.1% on their 15year loyalty saver)
what is so irritating is their outrageous "on your side, our only focus is you" attitude when they do it. (https://www.nationwide.co.uk/support/support-articles/services/savings-promises)
to be mugged and have your wallet stolen is bad enough. when the mugger smiles when they do it is what makes the experience almost unbearable.
sometimes i just want to scream.
very loudly.

Which of those seven published promises are you claiming they've broken?

Nationwide after BoE Interest Rate rise

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