- Last June, 3.4 million Nationwide members received a £100 loyalty bonus
- The mutual reported pre-tax profits of £2.2bn for the year to April 2023.
- Members will know on May 23 if they will receive a loyalty bonus
Last June, 3.4 million Nationwide members received a £100 payment from the building society.
Nationwide paid £340m to its members, as part of a ‘Fairer Share’ offer it announced in May last year.
The £100 bonus was paid to eligible members who had a current account and at least £100 in a savings account or at least £100 outstanding on a mortgage as at 31 March 2023.
As a building society, Nationwide is owned by its customer members, who should benefit from profits through better rates on savings, mortgages and other products.
Nationwide paid 3.4 million members a £100 loyalty bonus last summer. Now members will wonder if they will get another one this year.
Now Nationwide members will be wondering if the offer will be replicated this year.
Members will know on May 23 whether the building society intends to repay the loyalty bonus or not, when the building society announces its results.
Nationwide has come under much scrutiny for refusing to give its 16 million members a say in its acquisition of Virgin Money.
Meanwhile, Virgin Money shareholders will be able to vote on the deal, as it is a listed company, and they have until this week to cast their vote.
The result will be announced at a meeting on May 22, a day before Nationwide’s announcement of its loyalty bonus.
Whether or not the mutual company pays a bonus to its members again this year will depend on the benefits it obtains.
Last year, Nationwide made £2.2bn in annual pre-tax profits in the year to April 2023, boosted by rising interest rates. This figure represents an increase on the previous year’s £1.6 billion.
Its total underlying revenue rose to £4.7bn from £3.9bn a year earlier.
One financial expert said it would be surprising if Nationwide did not announce another loyalty bonus based on good trading conditions for banks in 2023.
In 2023, NatWest reported pre-tax profits of £6.2 billion, Barclays reported £7.5 billion, Santander reported £2.1 billion and HSBC reported £24 billion.
James Blower, founder of Savings Guru, said: ‘Nationwide pays the Fairer Share loyalty bonus based on your earnings. Their fiscal year ends in April and the results will be announced on May 23, so until then we will not know if they have made a profit or not.
‘However, trading conditions were very good for banks in 2023, so I would be surprised if they did not make good profits and were unable to make payments this year.
‘Last year, members needed at least £100 in a savings account, £100 outstanding on a mortgage or current account due to be maintained by 31 March.
“I would expect similar conditions this year, so it is probably too late to take action to meet the qualifying conditions this year, but members who qualified last year should keep an eye out for May 23, as I expect they will receive more good news then.”
A Nationwide spokesperson said: “We hope to be able to make a payment in 2024. It depends on how we perform financially.”
“We will be able to confirm payment, as well as eligibility criteria, once the financial year ends in April.”
“Watch for the announcement on May 23.”
