Nationwide Building Society is extending its Start to Save account with two extra prize draws as a result of demand for the new regular savings account.
Start to Save, which gives savers the chance to win prizes of £100 by encouraging a regular savings habit, has continued to be extremely popular during the pandemic, particularly those who are young and with limited savings. The more people that save, the more prizes there are to be won – with the prize fund equating to one per cent of the total balance increase across the accounts that meet the criteria.
The additional prize draws will take place on 21 July and 21 October. As with all previous prize draws, savers will be entered if they increase their account balance by a minimum of £50 (up to a maximum of £100) in each of the three calendar months prior to the prize draw.
Nationwide’s third Start to Save prize draw took place on Friday 22 January with 1,304 people winning £100 each. The odds of winning in this latest draw were 1 in 36. Winners are currently being notified by email, with their prizes paid into their account at the start of February.
Nationwide launched Start to Save last year in response to the Money & Pensions Service (MaPS) statistic that more than 11 million people have less than £100 in savings1. As a result of Start to Save, 86,090 Nationwide members, who had less than £100 in savings with the Society previously, now have £100 or more saved in the account. This equates to nearly half (47%) of all accounts opened.
The aim of Start to Save was to also help encourage more people to save and support MaPS’s ambition to get two million more people saving regularly2. Of the 47,318 accounts opened by the end of April, 30 per cent (14,084) have saved at least £50 each month giving them entry into all three of the Society’s Start to Save prize draws to date.
Nationwide has also been looking to encourage more young people and families to put small amounts of money aside each month and more than half (51%) of account openings continue to be made by those aged 18 to 39, whereas only 25 per cent of the Society’s other savings accounts were opened by this age group.
As of the end of December, more than £55 million has been saved into Nationwide’s Start to Save account across 183,500 accounts. The average amount saved by those eligible for the January prize draw was £91.33 per month between October and December.
Tom Riley, Nationwide’s Director of Banking & Savings, said: “It’s great to see that our Start to Save account continues to have a positive effect on the savings habit across the country through people starting for the first time or getting back into it. Given the ongoing popularity of the account in encouraging people to save, we have decided to offer two extra prize draws to reward those trying to build up their nest egg and continue the positive momentum that Start to Save has generated, as we continue to support the Money and Pensions Service’s financial wellbeing strategy.
“We know that Covid-19 has had a real impact on many people’s finances, but it is really encouraging that people have continued to try and save regularly where they can, with nearly a third of all accounts opened by the end of April putting away enough each month to be entered into all three prize draws to date.”
