Putting you first
Why choose Nationwide?
As a member of Nationwide, you can be sure that we put your interests first. Whether you're saving for the future, buying your home or enjoying the fruits of your retirement, it's good to know that we'll give you great value and service in a way that is fair and honest.
We try to make the Nationwide difference a reality by:
- giving you value and fairness
- making it easier to do business with us
- meeting all your financial needs
- supporting the community
- listening to you
And now you can:
Tell us how we can do even better through our member suggestion scheme.
Meeting all your financial needs
We offer a complete range of financial services - savings, investments, insurance, mortgages, loans, pensions, credit cards and banking - all of which are designed to give you great value.
Mortgages
Whether you're a first time buyer, moving home or re-mortgaging, we have a mortgage to suit you. Our simple range of fixed, variable (base rate) and tracker mortgages are all available as repayment or interest only, and have no hidden fees or charges.
What's more, we appreciate your circumstances may change. That's why our mortgages come with flexibility as standard, giving you the option to make overpayments, underpayments and take payment holidays. Plus, because we calculate interest daily, you'll only pay interest on the amount you owe, which is the fairest way of charging.
Did you know? In the latest awards from Personal Finance magazine, we won 'Best Mortgage Provider' and 'Best Savings Account Provider'.
Savings
We are now the second largest savings provider on the UK high street, and we're committed to giving you consistent, long-term good value. We are one of only four high street providers to offer the choice of an equity or cash based Child Trust Fund.
Banking
We're not just about mortgages and savings - we offer a complete range of financial services to meet your needs. Take a look at FlexAccount, our current account, which offers a competitive interest rate. It also comes without any of the day-to-day charges you can expect from a bank. Plus, we don't charge you anything for cash machine withdrawals at home or abroad.
Making it easier to do business with us
We are committed to improving access to our services however you choose to do business with us.
In 2004 we announced that we'd be investing £300 million over six years into our branches, agencies, call centres and Internet Bank. Since then, a third of the retail network has benefited from this investment. We've also opened several new branches and call centres.
Did you know? We've equipped all our branches with Helping Hands Units that include items such as magnifiers, an easy-grip pen, and cheque templates, to help members with disabilities.
Did you know? Our Telephone Self Service banking facility uses the latest speech recognition technology supported by traditional 'touch tone' functions. It allows members to access their account anytime, anywhere.
Branch agencies
Our network of agencies, usually in smaller towns, brings a range of Nationwide services to many more places. For full details of our branch and agency network, visit our Branch Finder.
Nationwide online
Over 3 million members have registered for our Internet Banking service, which complements more traditional channels such as the branch or the phone.
Using the latest technology
In today's hectic world, more and more people manage their lives on the move. We understand that. So now you can access www.nationwide.co.uk using the latest technology WAP mobile phones and pocket computers (personal digital assistants).
Supporting your Community
We support many good causes, both locally and nationally, and we are working hard to make a positive impact on society and the environment.
At our 2007 AGM, members voted in favour of achieving the PerCent Standard. This is a commitment to invest at least 1% of pre-tax profit in community, charitable and environmental activities from 2008.
We have extended our community and environmental affairs programme to include some former Portman Building Society activities, such as supporting the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, a national youth cricket scheme and the Wessex Autistic Society's 10k run.
Macmillan Cancer Support
£5 million has now been raised for Macmillan Cancer Support - our flagship charity since 1993 - through events like the World's Biggest Coffee Morning and sponsorship of the Macmillan Cancer Guide.
Disability Sport Events
We are the main sponsor of Disability Sport Events. The Charity provides opportunities for participation in swimming and athletics, from regional to international level, and will help identify talent in the run-up to the Paralympics in Bejing in 2008 and London in 2012.
The Nationwide Foundation
Our associated charity, The Nationwide Foundation, has made over £21 million of donations to organisations across the UK. You can find out more about The Foundation by visiting their website www.nationwidefoundation.org.uk.
Environment
We are an industry leader in terms of recycling 100% of paper from all of our UK sites. This includes any unused or out of date marketing and direct mail literature.
Listening to you
As a Nationwide member you have a say in how your Society is run. In fact, we believe a key way for us to keep improving, is to listen to you and try to understand your needs better.
Every day our member-facing employees record your comments while you're in the branch, or on the phone, giving us a clear picture of what you think about your Society. Each year we record around 120,000 pieces of feedback which we use to improve service both locally and nationally.
Directors listening to members
We believe it's important for our Directors to listen to members' views and opinions first hand. In the last year, 402 members put their questions to Directors at Talkback events around the UK and the most recent online TalkBack event received nearly 1750 questions. Over the last ten years many product and service improvements have come from these open forum discussions.
Finding out what you want
We regularly invite members to take part in market research. It's a way of us getting to know you better, enabling us to provide the accounts and services that you really want, rather than just what we think you want.
Did you know? An actual accredited research company telephones around 2,000 members on our behalf every month to help us pinpoint where we're doing well, not so well, and what's important to our members.
Tried and tested
Before we launch new products and services we test them thoroughly at our Usability Centre by asking members to help us try out each new service and product. Does it meet a genuine need? Is the information clear and easy to understand? Does it deliver great value? Does it live up to the Nationwide difference? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then we change it and test again.
How can we do better?
We always welcome members' feedback on our services. You can ask to see someone at your local branch, or come to one of our Member TalkBack events where you can question our directors face to face.
We value all your suggestions, even if we can't always act on every one. We'll let you know if we put your idea into action.