Nationwide Building Society has clarified how the rules work for a £175 payment going out to customers.
People switching to the provider can get the £175 bonus payment when doing so as long as they meet certain criteria.
One new customer contacted the bank over social media to ask: “How long on average does the process take from applying to switch from another bank to your guys current account to receiving the £175 incentive? I’m currently just awaiting the card and pin in post to make my first purchase via card to get the £175.”
One of the rules to get the payment is that you have to pay for something once using your new Nationwide debit card, within 31 days of the switch.
The customer went on to say they had met some of the other criteria, by switching over two direct debits and paying in £1,000 into the account.
You have to pay in the £1,000 also within 31 days of the switch, You cannot use from other Nationwide accounts or Visa credits towards this amount.
In response, the building society said: “The timeframe overall varies however from when you complete the criteria, you’ll receive a text confirming this and then payment is made within 10 working days of the text.”
You can get the £175 when switching to either a FlexPlus, FlexDirect or FlexAccount. If you already have one of these accounts, you can still get the cash if you switch over from a non-Nationwide provider, as long as you meet the other criteria.
In a separate incident, a customer recently contacted Nationwide to voice their frustration as the app was missing a key function.
They asked over X: “Why oh why are you still so antiquated that customers cannot pay a cheque in on the app?” They urged the building society to update their systems and “get with the times”.
Customers have the option to pay in a cheque written to them using a Nationwide cash machine, over the counter in branch or by post.
In response, Nationwide confirmed: “This isn’t something we currently offer however we’re always looking to improve our products and services.”
If you want to cash a cheque by post, you have to fill in a form and send it to your local branch, along with the cheque. In this case, you should also write the sort code and account number on the back of the cheque on the right hand side.
Nationwide will pay the cheque into the account confirmed on the back of the cheque. When writing a cheque, it’s important to include the date, payee, the amount written out and in numeric, and your signature.
Another good practice is to include the name of the account holder’s bank or building society next to their name, to help protect against fraud. For example, ‘Nationwide – John Smith’.
