My favourite building society (Nationwide Building Society)

Member Name: markos9

Product:	Nationwide Building Society
Date:	06/09/09 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Friendly staff. Good range of products.

Disadvantages: Interest rates are no longer as good as the competition.

I have recently paid off my mortgage with Nationwide Building Society so thought a review of their service was appropriate. Being a first time buyer, I took the advice of a financial advisor and chose a flexible tracker mortgage. I did not realise at the time just what a benefit this would be. The mortgage was arranged with no contact with Nationwide.

For seven years, I paid my monthly mortgage, received my statements, and watched the amount I owe gradually reduce. Nationwide contacted me each time the mortgage rate changed and notified me of the new payment. In 2003, I found myself in the position of needing a temporary loan of £50,000 to help a family member with their house move.

I contacted the Nationwide to see if I could borrow this against my mortgage. The housing market had boomed since I bought my house, and Nationwide agreed, in principle, to lend me the £50,000 without a further survey on my house.

I visited the Chester branch to organise the mortgage extension (or 'further advance' as they called it). The staff I spoke to on the phone and in the branch were really helpful and very friendly.

Borrowing the money for three months only was not a problem. I signed all the forms, waited for the 'cooling off' period to expire, and got the cash in time to prevent my sister's house purchase falling through.

During the cooling off period, I needed to speak to the Nationwide several times. Once again, the staff were professional and helpful and did everything they could to ensure that I got the money in time.

After three months, I paid off the £50,000. This was again done at the Chester branch. Despite me borrowing a huge amount of money, for such a small amount of time, there were no penalties to pay!

Speaking to the Chester staff, I began to understand that the mortgage I had was totally flexible in that I could pay off as much extra as I wanted to. I could also, if required, take a 'payment holiday'. As there were no penalties, I decided to see if I could pay off my mortgage early.

As I used internet banking, I was told that all I needed to do to pay more was to modify my mortgage standing order for the amount I wanted to pay each month. At the end of each month I put all of my excess cash into my mortgage.

Within five years, I had paid off most of my outstanding balance and had the final amount, so a trip to the Chester branch was arranged.

I sat down with one of the staff who seemed genuinely pleased that I was in a position to be mortgage free. The one question I had concerned the deeds to my house; what to do with them. She advised me to keep £1 in my mortgage account and Nationwide would hold my deeds for free, rather than paying someone to hold them for me, very helpful!

I paid off my mortgage 10 years early, due to the help and advice given to me by the Nationwide staff (both the Chester office and HQ), and the flexible way they allow their tracker mortgage to be managed.

My experiences with the Nationwide have been positive from the day I took out my mortgage. Since paying the mortgage off, I've started saving and naturally chosen Nationwide as one of the places to store my money.

Their choice of savings accounts is extensive and the interest rates (until 2009), very competitive. The regular savings account really appeals to me (I can save up to £500 per month at a reasonable interest rate), and I have a couple of internet fixed rate bonds (one has just matured with an interest rate of 6.5%; we won't see a rate like that again for a while!).

Their online banking service is fast and flexible, enabling me to open new accounts, move money around, and check my balance at will; their service compares well with the other five internet banking websites that I use.

Although in 2009, their savings rates have reduced drastically, and they no longer offer the best interest rates, they remain one of the building societies I use to save (after Northern Rock and the Icelandic bank collapses, I will not keep my money in one bank ever again).

Although I have used several of Nationwide's products (mortgage, current account, savings accounts, fixed rate bonds), they offer many more services as well, such as insurance and loans.

Nationwide seem to be getting a bit of a bad press at the moment (as are many financial institutions). I'm sure that many peoples' experiences differ from mine with Nationwide. All I can say is that all of my dealings with the staff and services of this building society have convinced me that it's a good place to keep my money.

Summary: A financial institution that I'm comfortable putting my money into.