01 Aug 2022

Nationwide relaunches student current account with £100 cashback plus £10 given to Shelter per account opened

  • £100 cashback available for limited time to students opening FlexStudent from 1 August
  • £10 to be given to housing charity Shelter for every student account opened from today
  • Account continues to offer students interest-free, fee-free overdrafts of up to £3,000
  • Students will continue to move to Society’s FlexGraduate account after finishing university

Nationwide is today relaunching its FlexStudent1 current account to give students £100 cashback when they open an account. FlexStudent will continue to offer an interest-free and fee-free arranged overdraft of up to £3,000 by year three.

The £100 cashback is a limited time offer and students need to open a FlexStudent account from 1 August 2022 and meet all eligibility criteria. The cashback offer is not available to those members who have a FlexStudent or FlexGraduate account open on 31 July 2022.

To help tackle homelessness, the UK’s biggest building society will also give £10 to housing charity Shelter every time someone opens an account in August and September.2

FlexStudent benefits

  • Cashback: The limited time offer of £100 is available to those opening an account from 1 August. Students will receive £100 within 14 calendar days of crediting £500 to their FlexStudent account, which must be done by 16 December 2022.
  • Arranged overdraft: Access to an interest-free, fee-free, flexible overdraft throughout a student’s studies (subject to status), where they can set borrowing limits. Students can request up to a maximum of £1,000 in the first year, up to £2,000 in their second year and up to a maximum of £3,000 in year 3.
  • Fee-free card use abroad: Students can also use their debit card abroad, whether travelling or studying, without incurring any fees.
  • Access to the FlexGraduate3 current account: Those with a FlexStudent account will have exclusive access to FlexGraduate – a post-university current account with an interest-free, fee-free arranged overdraft designed to help students find their feet after university, allowing them time to pay off their overdraft once their course has finished.

Tom Riley, Director of Banking and Savings at Nationwide Building Society, said: “We know that extra money will be appreciated by students at a time when many are struggling with rising costs. The FlexStudent account is designed with the needs of students in mind and comes with a number of benefits, which we believe will help students with their finances. These include a £100 cashback and an arranged overdraft of up to £3,000 that is both interest and fee-free. However, the cashback is only available for a limited time, so I’d encourage students to act early to benefit from the £100.

“As a building society, we also believe that everyone should be able to live in a safe place they can call home. So, to play our part in helping tackle homelessness, we are also giving £10 to Shelter for every FlexStudent account opened. As a partner of Nationwide for more than 20 years, we felt it was an ideal time to give Shelter additional support.”

-Ends-

Notes to editors

1FlexStudent Current Account

Account Eligibility

  • The FlexStudent account is only available to individuals in the UK aged 18 or over (and have been a resident in the UK for at least three or more years) who are accepted on a full-time UCAS registered course of two or more years’ duration.
  • The account can be opened five months before the course starts and up to 12 months after.
  • Customers can only have one FlexStudent account open at any one time and it can only be held in the sole name of the customer.

£100 cashback offer – limited time offer

  • To receive the £100 cashback offer, a FlexStudent account must be opened from 1 August 2022.
  • In addition, £500 must be credited to the account by 23:59 on 16 December 2022.
  • The £100 will be paid within 14 days of the account being credited with £500.

Funding the Account

  • Customers must pay in at least £500 in each term of study from the date the account is opened and maintain a good credit record to remain eligible for the key account features.

Account Operation

  • FlexStudent can be opened and operated online, over the phone and in branch.
  • Timely and relevant alerts will give students the flexibility to easily manage money at any time on the go – from text alerts to messages via online and mobile banking.

Overdrafts

  • Aged 18, subject to status.
  • There are no overdraft charges for any arranged or unarranged overdraft.
  • Customers can ask Nationwide for an arranged overdraft or ask to increase their arranged overdraft limit online through the Internet Bank, by calling Nationwide or in branch.
  • The overdraft is available as soon as the account is open.
  • The maximum overdraft limit depends on the customer’s year of study:

Year of Study

Maximum available overdraft limit

1

£1,000

2

£2,000

3+

£3,000

Cards

  • FlexStudent comes with contactless debit card and ability to pay via Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, enabling students to pay for items in a fast, easy and safe way to suit their needs.

Cash Withdrawals

  • FlexStudent customers can withdraw up to £500 a day from a cash machine, as long as they have enough funds in the account, or up to £500 over the counter in a branch.

2 Up to a total of £200,000 given to Shelter.

3 FlexGraduate current account

Account Eligibility

  • FlexGraduate is only available to FlexStudent customers.
  • Students don’t need to do anything. Nationwide will write to customers in FlexStudent at least two months before we move their account to a FlexGraduate account, with full information about the account and its terms and conditions.
  • FlexGraduate customers will keep the same account number, sort code and PIN and will receive a new FlexGraduate debit card.
  • If customers don’t want to be moved onto FlexGraduate, they just need to contact us to discuss what new account options are available. FlexStudent customers are eligible for our other products, as they will be over the age of 18.
  • Any other products will be subject to credit checks and the terms and conditions of the specific products.
  • FlexGraduate has a maximum duration of three years for students on courses of three years or more. For courses of two years, students have a maximum duration of 2 years.

Overdrafts

  • The maximum available limits will decrease in manageable increments. For example, after a three year course the overdraft will be reduced to:
  • £2,500 by the end of year one after graduation
  • £1,750 by the end of year two after graduation
  • £1,000 by the end of year three after graduation
  • After a two year course the overdraft will be reduced to:
  • £1,500 by the end of year one after graduation
  • £1,000 by the end of year two after graduation