24 access to my favourite colour - red! (nationwide.co.uk)

Member Name: HonestBob

Product:	nationwide.co.uk
Date:	05/01/09 (232 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can set up several accounts for different purposes and instantly transfer funds between them

Disadvantages: Checking balances can become addictive

I do not hold a Bank account.

I hold a Building Society account and I hold it with Nationwide and have done so for at least 16 years (probably longer, but I'm judging it by the age of my eldest child and I know I had an account with them then).

Initially I held a passbook account. A thin grey book housed in a plastic sleeve that I would take with me into the Building Society every time I needed to make a transaction.

Later, once I had an income requiring a regular place to visit briefly, I added a Flexaccount to my Nationwide holdings. This account uses a plastic card for deposits and withdrawals (and shopping!) rather than a passbook. I wasn't too keen on giving up the passbook to begin with as I liked to be able to read, with ease, the transactions made on my account. However, I realised I needed to move with the times, and the convenience of shopping using the card, rather than having to go and withdraw cash in person at the branch, really did outweigh the loss of a handbag sized personal record. Plus of course, I also got sent regular statements, so could check that all transactions were present and correct on that and I could order mini-statements from hole-in-the-wall machines.

More time passed and I discovered that my income didn't stay quite so briefly in my Flexaccount, so I decided to start putting a little away for a rainy day (oh how times have changed since those glorious days!!).

Once again I sought out my trusty Nationwide and discovered the InvestDirect account. This is a postal account. No need to go into the branch. Indeed, it's positively frowned upon to do so. The account package comes complete with paying in slips, withdrawal slips and envelopes. Everytime I wanted to deposit money I wrote myself a cheque and when I wanted to withdraw it I posted off a withdrawal slip. All quite time-consuming. However, I needed something that would deter me from withdrawing my savings everytime I saw a nice new pair of shoes, and this method of transaction was perfect.

Another couple of years passed. My InvestDirect Account took an occasional battering, my Flexaccount welcomed my salary and then gave it away to an ever increasing swarm of direct debitors, and Nationwide introduced internet banking.

I had been 'mis'managing my accounts in person at my not-so-local branch, by post and occasional using telephone banking, so when I saw a flyer for internet banking I jumped at the chance and signed up immediately.

When I signed up it had to be done in a branch, however, it may be possible to join Nationwide online now - although I imagine you need to provide some kind of identification in person at a branch to prevent fraud.

Within a week I had been sent a 10-digit customer number and a 4-digit Passnumber. The passnumber could be changed on the site to something more personally memorable, The customer number could not be changed but can be stored on the site so that it never need be re-entered again. It is inadviseable, however, to store this number on any computer other than your home computer as it could give others easier access to your account details.

Once on the site I had to provide some pieces of memorable data. At least two pieces, but possibly three (it's been a while). On logging in I have to provide the customer number (already stored for me), my passnumber (using a scroll down facility to obtain each digit) and one piece of memorable data (my choice as to which). It's very easy to get on site to check my account details, and I feel that the security is very good.

As well as access security, there is also transaction security on the site plus there is also additional security when making online purchases:


Security feature for transaction/payments on the Nationwide website:

This involves the use of a small Cardreader, the size of a hand held calculator. This requires that you insert your debit card and follow the on screen instruction to press the 'tick' button on the cardreader, enter your pin number, the transaction reference and the amount. The cardreader then displays an on screen Passcode which you enter into the box on the website. This then authorises the transaction (e.g an additional credit card payment)

Security feature for online purchases:

This involves a the appearance of a security question box at the payment point. This is specific to Nationwide and requires you to input a special password for this feature (you cannot override it and must complete the security box for the transaction to take place). The password has to contain at least one upper case and one lower case letter as well as number. Unfortunately I can never remember this password and have to go through a series of additional security questions to reset it everytime a site asks me for it.

As well as being able to carry out my normal banking transaction online, the site provides many other services, including insurance, loans (all completed online - I've got one of these!), credit card application (done this too) as well as the facility to check the movement of houseprices across the country (wish I hadn't done this one!).

I have also opened other accounts online with Nationwide, including a regular savings account and an e-account, plus I now manage my InvestDirect account solely online. The site provides the facility to rename these accounts and I have done so, hence I now have 'Uni-Savings' for my daughter (hasn't made it into double figures yet), 'Car costs' (may get a £ sign in front of it one day) and 'Christmas' (now retaining 1p to keep it open!)

Summary: A fantastic website for a great internet 'building society' facility!