News

• New issue of 1 Year Triple Access Online ISA with increased rate launching Thursday 17 March
• Society to increase rate on Triple Access Online Saver with new issue launched the same day
• Nationwide is also introducing new one and two-year fixed rate products – both ISAs and Bonds

• Purchase and advance fee scams involving pets rose 39 per cent between 2020 and 2021
• Average amount lost to reported scams involving pets around £1,400
• Separate poll suggests scams involving dogs are most prevalent
• 12% would use social media to find a pet while 32% would pay a deposit before meeting the animal
• New research comes as world’s biggest dog show Crufts currently takes place in Birmingham

• £335,000 awarded to 72 charities across five regions in Northern Ireland
• Up to £5k given per charity as part of Society’s Northern Ireland Community Fund
• Charities chosen with a focus on mental health, children and community services

Nationwide Building Society is today launching new three and five year Fixed Rate Online Bonds.

• Money worries see six in ten people go to work when ill, according to new poll from Nationwide
• One in three ignore doctor’s advice due to financial concerns, even when worried about serious illness
• Three in ten have no financial protection if they were off work while 27% could only last a month
• But less than three in ten have an income protection policy should they fall ill or become injured
• Nationwide Injury & Illness insurance can help protect income if off work for four weeks or more

• Nationwide’s Spending Report analyses nearly 200m card and direct debit transactions in January
• Annual spending growth up 18%, despite Plan B restrictions, reflecting a country more open than last January
• Non-essential spend rockets by 43 per cent as people book holidays, flights and cruises for 2022
• Essential spend up 15 per cent on last year with spending on utilities and bills up nine percent year-on-year
• Payments via mobile phone continue to thrive – transactions up a staggering 179 per cent on January last year

• Three in ten people who are lonely & socially isolated say it makes them ripe for romance scams
• Number of people saying they’ve no contact with friends and family trebles since March 2020
• Two thirds have felt suspicious over dating profiles but 12% would carry on flirting regardless
• Young people particularly vulnerable as more use dating apps and more have felt ‘on their own’
• Follows Nationwide’s launch of Scam Checker Service, available in branch or over the telephone

• Society increases maximum Loan-to-Value available through Helping Hand mortgage to 95 per cent
• Helping Hand enables first-time buyers to borrow up to 5.5x income when taking 5 or 10-year mortgage
• Affordability boosted by 20% with a couple earning £50,000 able to borrow maximum of £275,000
• Helping Hand boost comes as affordability continues to be a major housing hurdle for many

• Point at which households will consider acting drops by more than £10 in less than a year, poll shows
• 69% plan to make their homes more energy efficient, while 45% have begun making some changes
• Around eight in ten more inclined to improve their home’s energy efficiency than six months ago
• But while people plan to make green home improvements, confusion over the process remains
• Society says “time to act” on greening our homes is now – but support is desperately needed

A cross-industry sustainability group has called on the government to deliver a long-term solution to better protect households from volatile energy prices, following today’s rise in the energy price cap, after months of soaring energy bills.

• BMR and SMR increasing by 0.25% in line with Bank Rate from 1 March 
• Tracker mortgages for existing members will increase by 0.25% as outlined in contracts from 1 March