23 May 2024

How to get Nationwide's Fairer Share £100 bonus - plus £200 for switching

Nationwide has launched a trio of deals for members including a 5.5% savings rate

It’s good news if you’re a Nationwide member as you’ll have the chance to get your hands on £300 cash this summer, after the building society launched a trio of benefits.

Nationwide will once again pay eligible members £100 as part of its ‘Fairer Share’ bonus scheme - with money being paid into bank accounts by the end of June.

It’s also launched a £200 switching deal for members who currently do not use their Nationwide account for their everyday banking, and a market leading savings bond paying a fixed 5.5% AER for 18 months.

Here, Which? explains who will be getting the £100 bonus, how you can get paid £200 to switch and if the new savings bond is any good.

If you're thinking of switching to any of the accounts mentioned in this article, make sure you refer to the particular terms and conditions of the deal to make sure it's right for you.

The Fairer Share scheme is a one-off £100 lump sum paid automatically to eligible members.

Nationwide will pay a total of £385m directly into the accounts of 3.85 million customers. Last year it paid £340m to 3.4 milion customers.

Nationwide says the payment is its way of 'giving back to members' after it made profits of £2bn in the last tax year. It can do this as it's a building society, not a bank, and as such it is able to reinvest profits for its members' benefit.

Find out more: best bank and bank accounts 2024

Who's eligible for the £100 bonus?

To receive the money, you must hold one of the following Nationwide current accounts and meet the qualifying criteria for each:

FlexPlus: you must be paying the mandatory monthly fee.
FlexOne/FlexStudent/FlexGraduate: at least one transaction - either incoming or outgoing - must have been made from the account during March 2024.
FlexAccount/FlexDirect/FlexBasic: At least £500 must have landed in your current account, plus at least two payments made out of your account or you must have made at least 10 payments from the account within two of the three months from January to March 2024.

In addition, you need to have either one of these:

A Nationwide personal savings account or cash Isa containing at least £100
A Nationwide mortgage on which you owe at least £100.

All the above products must have been open on 31 March 2024.

If you’re not sure if you’re eligible for the bonus, Nationwide has an online checker you can use to see if you qualify.

When will you receive the money?

You don’t need to do any additional legwork to get you £100 as all eligible members will receive the payment between 13 and 28 June 2024.

It will be transferred directly into customers' current account, appearing on the statement as 'Nationwide Fairer Share Payment'.

If you have more than one current account, the Fairer Share payment would be paid into the most recently opened current account that meets the criteria for the payment.

Joint account holders that meet the eligibility criteria, would both qualify separately and would receive a £100 Fairer Share payment each.

Is the £100 bonus taxable?

The bonus is considered a taxable savings income and as such is treated in the same way as any interest you may earn on your personal savings or current account.

It will therefore count towards your personal savings allowance, which is £1,000 of interest on savings for basic rate taxpayers and £500 for higher-rate taxpayers.

Additional rate taxpayers don't receive a personal savings allowance, so if you earn more than £125,140 each year, you'll need to pay tax on all your savings interest.

Find out more: tax on your savings explained

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How members can get £200 to switch

The building society has also launched a £200 switching offer, but this one is only for existing members.

You’ll need to have been a Nationwide member as of 31 March 2024, use the current account switch service to switch your bank account and set up two direct debits. Full eligibility criteria can be found on the Nationwide website.

You’ll need to be switching from a non-Nationwide account into one of the following:

FlexPlus: A packaged bank account with worldwide family travel and mobile phone insurance, plus UK and European breakdown cover. Comes with a £13 monthly fee and conditions apply.
FlexDirect: A bank account with interest and an interest-free arranged overdraft for the first 12 months. Conditions apply. No fee for the account.
FlexAccount: An everyday bank account with no monthly fee.

If you already have one of these accounts you can still switch over your non-Nationwide bank account and get £200 if you log in to online banking.

Anyone who’s switched a sole or joint account to Nationwide and previously benefited from a current account switch offer since 18 August 2021 will not qualify.

You’ll receive £200 within 10 calendar days of your switch completing.

Find out more: how Santander and First Direct’s switching deals compare

Member exclusive 5.5% savings bond

The last of Nationwide’s trio of deals includes a new member savings bond paying 5.5% AER fixed for 18 months.

This rate is 1.25 percentage points higher than Nationwide’s existing one-year fixed rate bond and is the most competitive rate on the market right now for 18-month / two-year fixed accounts, according to Moneyfacts data.

You can hold a maximum of £10,000 in the bond and it can be opened in branch, online or on the app. Interest is paid annually on the anniversary of the account opening and maturity.

If you put in the maximum £10,000 into the account, you would earn £840.13 in interest when the bond matures - £550 of this would be paid to you on the first 12-month anniversary of you opening the account.

This bond is only eligible to UK residents over 16 and you must hold a Nationwide current account, savings account or mortgage on 22 May 2024 and at the time of applying.

Nationwide said it’s only available for a limited period and could be withdrawn at any time.

Find out more: best savings rates 2024

Is Nationwide a good provider?

Nationwide achieved a customer score of 78% coming fifth out of 21 providers in our annual survey of the best bank and bank accounts 2024.

Customers rated it highly for its customer service, application process, online banking service and complaints handling procedure.

Although it achieved excellent customer scores, its product scores were below average, preventing it from achieving a Which? Recommended Provider status. However, it did become a Which? Eco Provider.

Nationwide is currently the provider with the most branches remaining open across the country, with 605 outlets still operating. The building society has also pledged to not leave any town or city in which it is based until at least 2028.