"Proud to be Different " - But Are They? (Nationwide)

Member Name: olly374

Product:	Nationwide
Date:	24/10/07 (460 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fee free bank account, lots of branches, deal with complaints quickly

Disadvantages: Services are not what they appear to be, Products ok at best, unaccountable board

Nationwide is the largest building society in the UK offering a wide range of financial products from savings accounts to mortgages to insurance. The building society has an extensive branch network meaning that there is a branch on nearly every high street.

I have had a savings account with them for over 16 years and a few years ago I decided to move my current account with them due to their branch network, as the bank I was with has very few branches in the South East.

I should point out this review mostly focuses on their current account banking service.

The Good
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Their current account is called the “Flexaccount”. It offers standard things such as a cheque book, interest on positive balances and visa debit card plus most importantly for me:
1. Online and 24/7 telephone banking to make your life easier
2. An e-savings account that you can link to your current account so you can get higher interest on your money.
3. Free ATM use
4. Free withdrawals with your debit card abroad
5. Free banking if you are in credit

It takes 3 working days for cheques to be credited to the account and to earn interest.

It is not the best current account to on those “Best Buy” tables but always ranked near the middle.

In addition you get helpful and polite staff in the branches and on the telephone so this seems like a perfect institution to bank with.

For example if you go into the branch to change your address instead of the counter clerk giving you a form to complete or telling you to go to the information desk, they type your details into their PC print out the form and get you to sign it.

If you wish to cancel a Direct Debit payment that is due to come out, if you contact them via email through online banking with enough notice then they will cancel the Direct Debit. They will not tell you that you cannot cancel a Direct Debit through the bank as RBS, has done to me in the past.

The Bad
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A. Personally
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24/7 telephone banking is a good idea if it is actually 24/7. If you don’t have internet access for example if you move house, you can find that if you ring up your call is not answered at all particularly if you ring up after 9pm at night. This has happened to me on two occasions.

The helpful and politeness of the staff does not extend to the Branch Managers.

I recently wanted to move money between accounts and could not do this online. So I phoned up the Call Centre and was informed I could do this transaction in a branch. The Branch Manager in the branch near me was the rudest and most patronizing individual ever that I had the misfortune to meet working for Nationwide. She proceeded to tell me how to use Internet Banking and demand to know why I could not do the transaction. (I work in IT and my job involves making websites like the type that Nationwide have.) When I pointed out politely I was not interested in this information as I discussed it with the Call Centre she still insisted on interograting me not noticing that there was now a queue of "members" forming behind me. When I turned around and noticed the queue forming behind me I again asked if I could do the transaction I wanted, she stated “No”. So I left.

Another phone call to the Call Centre revealed that the branch could have done the transaction. So back I went to the branch. The manager then proceeded to interrogate me into who I spoke to on the telephone at the Call Centre and then probably realising that I had asked for her name on her previous meeting, decided to do the transaction but stated loudly to a colleague that she was doing the transaction to prevent me “escalating the matter”.

She was very rude while she was doing the transaction and had not apologised for previously giving me incorrect information, so when I got home I wrote a complaint to Member Services. Nationwide tells you to complain to their Call Centre or to a Branch if you have a problem however as my complaint is about a Branch Manager the only way I can complain is to Member Services.

Member Services contacted me 3 days after I sent my letter and said they are discussing my issues with the Branch Manager’s manager, and gave me £25.

I should point out that previously have had issues with Natwest as a student and only after I moved my account without complaining did I discovered that 15 people I knew had the same issues with the bank namely rude unhelpful staff and lending officers who seemed to make up rules on the fly.

Another recent development is that Nationwide has increased the number of security questions on their website to such a number the only way to remember the answers would be to write them down. A staff member from Nationwide explained to me that you would never need to remember all the answers for normal transactions so you can forget them. The point of the additional security questions is for "unusual" transactions. I have no idea what Nationwide classes as an unusual transaction and with the recent difficulty I have had I rather not be caught out.

B. In general
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The Chief Executive of Nationwide has openly called for the end of free banking. Strangely this has coincided with Nationwide threatening to and actually closing the Flexaccounts of those members who have asked for their bank charges back under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999.

Nationwide’s Board is not known to be accountable and representative of the population in general. It took lots of campaigning for the first female to be elected on the board and at present there are no members from an ethnic minority. In addition the ballot papers are always designed in such a way it makes it harder for people to vote against the board's wishes.

No Nationwide general savings or banking products appear in the top of any best buy lists at the time of writing. Even if you agree with the idea of building societies apart from the branch network there is no real reason to have an account with them as smaller building societies seem to offer better bank accounts if you are happy doing your banking online or on the telephone, better savings rates and better mortgages.

Nationwide advertises that it does not have customers but “members” but this is not completely true. To be a member of Nationwide with any rights you have to have a Flexaccount, savings account with more than £100 in it or a mortgage. If you just have a credit card, insurance product, deposit account, loan or have brought a Nationwide product from a subsidiary of the company then you are a simply a customer and have no voting rights. If you now decide to open a savings account or Flexaccount you have to sign your rights away to any monetary windfall to the Nationwide Foundation. However I suspect if the board really wanted the Nationwide to become a bank they would give everyone shares.

Details
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Website: www.nationwide.co.uk
Branches: click on "Branch Finder" on the top right of their website
Complaints:
Tel:08457 30 20 10
Member Service,
Nationwide Building Society,
Kings Park Road,
Moulton Park,
Northampton
NN3 6NW

Advantages:
1. Fee free bank account with no one trying to force you into taking out a fee paying account
2. Online and telephone banking
3. Deal with complaints quickly if you know who to complain to

Disadvantages:
1. Services are not what they appear to be
2. Unaccountable board
3. Products ok at best

Summary: A Building Society with a good branch network but ignores its members wishes and is not a best buy