Nationwide spent £29m gobbling up almost 147,000 new customers

Nationwide spent £29million reeling in new current account customers from other banks over a three month period, latest switching figures suggest. 

Britain’s biggest building society gobbled up a record number of bank account switchers in the final three months of 2022. During much of that time it was paying £200 to new joiners.

In total, Nationwide gained almost 147,000 switchers – the highest ever recorded over a three month period by the Current Account Switching Service. 

Nationwide’s cash bribe was clearly the main draw for many customers. 

On 3 October 2022, Nationwide raised the bar for bank account sign-up incentives by offering new joiners £200 – the biggest cash giveaway by any provider up until then.

The deal was pulled on 30 November, but helped it lure in almost 112,000 more switchers during that time, which almost doubled the previous record held by Santander, which gained 66,145 more than it lost in the summer of 2015. 

The £200 lure to Nationwide in the last three months of 2022 blew its competitors out of the water. 

It was offering the money paid within 10 days, which proved popular in a winter when the cost of living crisis was biting, largely in the form of higher energy bills.

In fact, only two major banks, NatWest and Starling gained more customers than they lost through switches in the final three months of last year.

NatWest gained 5,646 more than it lost while Starling bank brought in just 1,810 more customers than it lost.

Meanwhile other banks hemorrhaged customers, with many probably jumping ship to Nationwide. 

Santander lost 35,000 more switchers than it gained while Barclays and Halifax lost more than 20,000 net switchers each.

While splashing out millions securing new customers, Nationwide appears to have also raised the bar when it comes to bank account bribes.

Having been the first to launch the £200 giveaway, it has been followed by HSBC, NatWest, RBS, TSB and Lloyds with matching offers.

Big losses: Santander lost 35,000 more bank account switchers than it gained in the final three months of 2022.

Andrew Hagger, personal finance analyst at MoneyComms says: ‘We have seen some astonishing gains by Nationwide – a 111,941 net increase over three months is by far the biggest quarterly net gain since CASS began in 2014.

‘I’m sure it was down to the £200 switch offer, which started 3 October 2022, but also being offered at a time where people were more likely to take advantage of switching incentives due to the biting cost of living crisis.

‘I also agree that it has set the bar at £200 now – anything below this probably won’t cut it in future.’

Tom Riley, Nationwide’s director of retail products, said the mutual was delighted with the results and would continue to strive to offer compelling reasons for people to join it.

He said: ‘As an organisation run for the benefit of its members, we are delighted with these latest current account switching figures. 

‘However, we mustn’t rest on our laurels and will continue to do all we can to continue to provide compelling reasons for people to move their current account to Nationwide.’

Money back: Nationwide bank account customers currently get 5% cashback on supermarket spend until 30 April – or until the building society has paid out a total of £99million.

The latest CASS figures suggest switching current account is rampant at the moment. 

There were 341,075 switches recorded in the three months of this year – the highest total ever, while last month was a second highest ever for switching.

There were 155,116 switches compared to the record 157,376 in November 2022. 

Nationwide has not reintroduced its £200 offer so far this year. It’s most recent giveaway was aimed more towards rewarding existing customers.

Since February, the mutual has been paying cashback on both online and in-store spending when using one of its debit cards at both large and small supermarkets.

The cashback was capped at £10 per calendar month, per card, meaning members could receive the monthly maximum by spending £200. 

The offer finishes on 30 April or once £99million in cashback has been paid to members, whichever comes sooner. 

Meanwhile, NatWest and RBS have been offering £200 to new joiners since mid-February and more recently, HSBC re-introduced its £200 switching bribe.