15 Jun 2022
Nationwide gives savers a boost by launching two competitive products and raising rates on a number of savings accounts
- Member Online Bond rewards members with 2.50% - the high street’s top rate for 3-year fixed rate bonds
- Start to Save (Issue 2) pays 2.50% - incentivising people to build steady savings during challenging times
- Start to Save account also offers new six-monthly prize draw offering £250 to those who save regularly
- Nationwide increasing rates by up to 0.50% on all off-sale variable rate accounts, effective 1 July
Nationwide Building Society is launching two competitive accounts for both new and seasoned savers and raising rates on a number of savings accounts.
The move is the latest initiative to reassure and support members at a challenging time and comes a week after the Society extended its Promise to keep a branch in the towns and cities where it is based until at least 2024.
Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive of Nationwide Building Society, said: “As a mutual, it’s always our goal to support savers and offer the best rates we can sustainably afford. We’ve worked hard to give existing savers even more reason to put money away at this time, and now we’re launching Member Online Bond and increasing rates on all off-sale accounts to help further. However, we recognise that there are also people who have not been saving. Our Start to Save account encourages a regular savings habit amongst people who are able to put a small amount away each month.”
Key product information details
Member Online Bond - launching Thursday 16 June: Nationwide launches a competitive fixed rate Bond for members1 that will be its best on-sale fixed rate. The time-limited Bond will pay 2.50% - the best rate from a major high street provider. Interest on the Member Online Bond is paid annually on the anniversary of the account opening and at maturity. Members can open and manage Member Online Bond using the Internet Bank or Mobile Banking app. While the account can also be opened with the support of branch colleagues, members must bring in and use their own device. The launch of the Member Online Bond follows Flex Regular Saver, which is available to the Society’s current account members and pays a highly competitive 2.50%.
Start to Save (Issue 2): launching Thursday 16 June: Following on from its previous success in encouraging a regular savings habit2, Nationwide launches a new Start to Save account that has been designed with support from Money and Pensions Service. The Society remains committed to encouraging a savings habit amongst those who can put something away each month. A number of improvements have therefore been made: the new issue comes with an increased interest rate of 2.50%; with three prize draws now every six months (from February 2023) the amount that can be won through each prize draw is also being raised from £100 to £250, while the amount that needs to be put away each month has been reduced from £50 to £25 to help as many people into the savings habit as possible.
The instant access, regular savings account, which is opened and managed online, pays a highly competitive 2.50% AER/gross p.a. (variable) for 24 months and is available to those aged 16 and above3. Interest is paid annually into the account on the anniversary of its opening.
Start to Save – the prize draw: As with the previous version, Start to Save (Issue 2) will also include prize draws to reward members saving regularly, each offering savers the chance to win £250. To be eligible, savers need to increase the balance of the account by between £25 and £50 a month in each of the six calendar months leading up to a prize draw. Savers can withdraw funds at any time. However, if any money is taken out during a calendar month, some or all of it may need to be paid back into the account to be eligible for the prize draw4.
The total prize fund5 for each draw will be 2.50 per cent of the total balance increase across all qualifying Start to Save (Issue 2) accounts in the six months leading up to the draw. As a result, the chances of winning are dependent on saving behaviour, so the more that people save, the bigger the prize fund and the more prizes on offer.
The dates of the prize draws will be:
- 21 February 2023: Balances must increase monthly by £25-£50 between August 2022 and January 2023.
- 22 August 2023: Balances must increase monthly by £25-£50 between February and July 2023.
- 20 February 2024: Balances must increase monthly by £25-£50 between August and January 2024.
Rate increases on Nationwide’s off-sale variable rate savings accounts:
Nationwide Building Society is today announcing rate increases on all of its off-sale variable rate savings accounts. The changes, effective from 1 July 2022, will see the Society increasing rates by up to 0.50 per cent.
Key savings changes:
- Members saving in Loyalty Saver, Loyalty ISA and Loyalty Single Access ISA accounts will see rates rise by 0.50% to 1.00% gross/AER.
- Nationwide is encouraging an early savings habit by increasing rates on children’s accounts by up to 0.25%. These include Future Saver6 (to 1.50% gross/AER), Junior ISA (to 1.50% gross/AER), Child Trust Fund (to 1.50% gross/AER) and Smart Limited Access (to 1.00% gross/AER).
- To support those saving for a house deposit, its Help to Buy ISA will now pay 1.35% AER, up by 0.10%.
- All instant access7 accounts, including Instant Access Saver, Instant ISA Saver and Cashbuilder will rise by 0.05% to either 0.16%, 0.18% or 0.20% AER depending on the amount saved.
- Flex Regular Saver for current account members, paying a highly competitive 2.50% AER and the current issues of Triple Access Online ISA and Triple Access Online Saver which both pay 1.00% AER will remain on sale.
- A full list of the products and rate changes can be found below (see Notes to Editor).
Savers signed up to Nationwide’s SavingsWatch will be notified of any rate changes impacting them and highlighting any new products that the Society launches.
- Ends -
Notes to editors
1 A member is defined as someone with either a current account, savings account or mortgage.
2 The original Start to Save account saw more than 150,000 members who previously had less than £100 in savings with Nationwide having more than £100 after opening the account. That equated to 42% of all the accounts opened, with 355,000 accounts opened and more than £210 million saved. 47 per cent of accounts were opened by those aged 18-39 - nearly double (25%) the proportion of the Society’s other savings accounts opened by this age group.
3Each individual saver is able to open one account, allowing a balance increase of between £25 and £50 per month. It can be opened without putting in any money, although money must be deposited in the account within 28 days.
4 For example, if the account balance is £100 at the start of the month and £50 is then withdrawn, at least £75 will need to be saved into the account to ensure the balance reaches at least £125 at the end of the month.
5 Using the example above, if 50,000 people all increased their Start to Save account balance by £150 (£25 per month) between August and January, the total prize fund for the February draw would be £187,500 – equating to 750 chances to win a £250 prize. If those same 50,000 people all increased their Start to Save account balance by £300 (£50 per month) the total prize fund would be £375,000, with 1,500 chances to win a £250 prize. The odds of winning a prize through Start to Save (Issue 2) are between 1 in 34 and 1 in 67.
The account will revert to an instant access account 24 months after account opening.
Winners will be notified personally and will have their £250 prize paid directly into their Start to Save account. The interest and any winnings paid into the account will not count towards the monthly balance increase target to be eligible for entry into the prize draw, nor will they contribute to the amount in the prize fund. The prize winnings are not taxable. The £250 prize is paid into the account and becomes part of the balance and that accrues the 2.50% interest.
6 New Future Saver rate of 1.50% applies to accounts where the parent has a current account with the Society. Future Saver accounts where the parent doesn’t have a current account will now receive a rate of 1.00%.
7 Instant access rates: 0.16% on balances of up to £9,999.99, 0.18% on balances of £10,000 to £49,999.99 and 0.20% on balances of £50,000 plus.
Nationwide has continued to offer competitive interest rates on deposits and in recent months, the Society’s average deposit (savings and current accounts) rate has been more than 50 per cent higher than the market average*. Over the last six years it has rewarded members with around £3.1 billion in additional value and it remains committed to paying the best rates it can sustainably afford, while taking into account the long-term interests of the membership as a whole.
* Market average deposit rate based upon data from the Bank of England, adjusted to exclude Nationwide balances.
|
Product Type
|
Account
|
Previous Rate
|
New Rate
|
Change
|
|
Gross/AER
|
Gross/AER
|
|
Limited Access
|
Single Access ISA 3
|
0.50%
|
1.00%
|
0.50%
|
|
Limited Access
|
Single Access Saver
|
0.50%
|
1.00%
|
0.50%
|
|
Loyalty
|
Loyalty ISA
|
0.50%
|
1.00%
|
0.50%
|
|
Loyalty
|
Loyalty Saver
|
0.50%
|
1.00%
|
0.50%
|
|
Loyalty
|
Loyalty Single Access ISA
|
0.50%
|
1.00%
|
0.50%
|
|
Children's
|
Child Trust Fund
|
1.25%
|
1.50%
|
0.25%
|
|
Children's
|
FlexOne Regular Saver
|
1.25%
|
1.50%
|
0.25%
|
|
Children's
|
Future Saver (C/A)
|
1.25%
|
1.50%
|
0.25%
|
|
Children's
|
Smart Junior ISA
|
1.25%
|
1.50%
|
0.25%
|
|
Children's
|
Future Saver (no C/A)
|
0.75%
|
1.00%
|
0.25%
|
|
Children's
|
Smart Limited Access
|
0.75%
|
1.00%
|
0.25%
|
|
Children's
|
Smart
|
0.35%
|
0.50%
|
0.15%
|
|
Children’s
|
Smart 2
|
0.35%
|
0.50%
|
0.15%
|
|
Children's
|
Smart Saver
|
0.35%
|
0.50%
|
0.15%
|
|
Children’s
|
Child Trust Fund Maturity
|
0.35%
|
0.50%
|
0.15%
|
|
Children’s
|
Smart Junior ISA Maturity
|
0.35%
|
0.50%
|
0.15%
|
|
Instant Access
|
Flex Instant Saver
|
0.35%
|
0.50%
|
0.15%
|
|
Regular Savings
|
Help to Buy ISA
|
1.25%
|
1.35%
|
0.10%
|
|
Regular Savings
|
Start to Save
|
1.25%
|
1.35%
|
0.10%
|
|
Limited Access
|
Triple Access Online ISA issue 12
|
0.80%
|
0.85%
|
0.05%
|
|
Limited Access
|
Triple Access Online Saver issue 13
|
0.80%
|
0.85%
|
0.05%
|
|
Instant Access
|
Continue to Save
|
0.50%
|
0.55%
|
0.05%
|
|
Limited Access
|
Triple Access Saver issue 2
|
0.50%
|
0.55%
|
0.05%
|
|
Limited Access
|
Triple Access ISA issue 2
|
0.50%
|
0.55%
|
0.05%
|
|
Limited Access
|
Triple Access Online Saver issue 12
|
0.45%
|
0.50%
|
0.05%
|
|
Limited Access
|
Triple Access Online ISA issue 11
|
0.25%
|
0.30%
|
0.05%
|
|
Limited Access
|
eSavings Plus
|
0.20%
|
0.25%
|
0.05%
|
|
Limited Access
|
Limited Access Saver
|
0.20%
|
0.25%
|
0.05%
|
|
Limited Access
|
Triple Access Saver
|
0.20%
|
0.25%
|
0.05%
|
|
Limited Access
|
Triple Access ISA
|
0.20%
|
0.25%
|
0.05%
|
|
Instant Access
|
Instant access ISA accounts, including Instant ISA Saver and Flex ISA
|
0.11%-0.15%
|
0.16%-0.20%
|
0.05%
|
|
Instant Access
|
Instant access savings accounts, including Instant Access Saver, Cashbuilder and Flex Saver
|
0.11%-0.15%
|
0.16%-0.20%
|
0.05%
|
NB: Some of the above accounts will have a number of different issues and the rate changes noted above apply to all.
On applicable limited access accounts, the revert rate for when the withdrawal limit has been exceeded will increase from 0.10% to 0.15% while the revert rate on Flex Regular Saver will increase from 0.35% to 0.50%. The revert rate on applicable children’s products will increased from 0.25% to 0.30%.
AER stands for Annual Equivalent Rate and illustrates what the interest rate would be if interest was paid and compounded once each year. Gross p.a. is the interest rate without tax deducted. Tax-free is the contractual rate of interest payable where interest is exempt from income tax.
