How to manage your savings account after Brexit
Due to Brexit, you may need to close your savings account.
Who is affected
We’re no longer able to provide savings accounts for members living in certain EU or European Economic Area (EEA) countries. You can find a list on our website of the countries where, based on our current understanding of their rules, we can no longer provide savings accounts.
What you need to do now
If you’re a member living in an affected country, please review your Nationwide savings accounts and make alternative arrangements. We’ll write to you to tell you the next steps to close your accounts or to make alternative arrangements.
Your savings account must be closed by the deadline for action date in your letter.
Note:
If you don't do anything by the deadline for action date in your letter, we'll close your account on that date. When your account closes, you won't be able to use it, any incoming payments will not be accepted and your money will no longer earn any interest. We'll keep your money safe for you, and we'll write to you again to explain how to access it.
I live in the EU or EEA
Other building societies and banks in the UK may not be able to open or service savings accounts for customers living in the EU or EEA country you’re living in. So, you may need to set up an account with a provider local to where you live.
I live in the UK
If you're no longer living in an EU or EEA country, and now live in the UK, please update your address details. This will allow you to keep your savings account open.
I have a joint savings account, and one of the account holders lives in the UK
These accounts can stay open if the account holder living in one of the EU or EEA countries where our services are impacted by Brexit removes their name from it or moves their registered address to the UK.
To add a joint account holder to an account and keep the account open, both of you need to live in the UK.
Close your Nationwide savings accounts
The options on how to close your account depend on the type of savings account you have with us.
If you have a fixed-rate product, please use the form we sent you with your letter. This will mean you don’t incur an early access charge.
If you don’t have a fixed-rate product, please use this page:
Advice for each type of account
Instant and limited access savings
You may be able to transfer to another UK provider. But you’ll need to make sure your new provider is able to continue to provide savings account and ISA services to you after the deadline for action date in your letter.
If you’re not able to transfer your cash ISA to another UK provider, please withdraw the balance and close your ISA. Follow the steps for closing an instant and limited access savings account:
Savings accounts that have a fixed term
These are the accounts where you save a lump sum for a fixed amount of time, during which time you cannot take out money without paying an early access charge. These accounts move to another product at the end of a fixed term or other event.
For accounts maturing before the deadline for action date in your letter
Your account will convert into an instant access maturity account, and we’ll send you a letter before the maturity date to confirm. When it matures, please withdraw all the money and close this account before the date in your letter by following the steps for closing an instant and limited access savings account:
For accounts maturing after the deadline for action date in your letter
As we’re required to close your account, we won’t apply any early access charges. We’ll also pay you interest for the account’s full term.