Nationwide Building Society · DRN-5986017

The complaint Mrs T complains that Nationwide Building Society unfairly refused to pay her the advertised incentive of £200 for switching her account. She said the application process was misleading and she received poor service. What happened Mrs T applied for a Nationwide current account via its switch link, and provided details of a Nationwide account that was closed in May 2021. She said she met all the criteria for the incentive payment, but was declined by Nationwide. She said that by not providing accurate prompts and warnings Nationwide failed to alert her that she was ineligible for the incentive. Mrs T said when she enquired with Nationwide’s branch staff, they were dismissive and rude and falsely claimed that no such switch offer exists. She said the staff didn’t explain eligibility for the scheme. Mrs T complained to Nationwide. Nationwide responded, ‘The switch offer was exclusively available to qualifying Nationwide members who held an account with us on 31 March 2025.’ Since Mrs T’s last Nationwide account closed in 2021 Nationwide said she wasn’t a qualifying member. Nationwide said it tried to call Mrs T on 2 and 3 September and emailed her on 5 September 2025, and had followed the complaint handling rules. Nationwide said its branch staff remember informing Mrs T of the eligibility rules for the offer and weren’t rude. Mrs T said that by requesting old account details Nationwide created an expectation of eligibility. And, ‘Nowhere in the terms was it clear that the current flex account needs to be active’. She said this failed the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Principles for treating customers fairly, providing clear communications, and to deliver good outcomes as per the Consumer Duty. She said she had been affected by Nationwide’s poor complaint handling. Mrs T provided screenshots of messages she received during the application process indicating she was eligible to receive the incentive payment. Nationwide corrected its earlier response and said it doesn’t ask for information about existing Nationwide accounts, only the account number the customer wishes to switch from, i.e. an external bank. Nationwide’s terms for the switch offer are headed: ‘What you need to do to get the offer… You need to: 1. Be a qualifying Nationwide member on 31 March 2025. Who is a qualifying Nationwide member If you had an eligible mortgage, savings or current account on 31 March 2025, then you’re a qualifying Nationwide member.’ Our investigator didn’t recommend the complaint be upheld. He said Nationwide’s response of 17 September 2025 stated that having an open account was a key eligibility requirement for the offer, as within the terms and conditions online. He said Nationwide’s process doesn’t ask for details of an existing Nationwide account – only the account being switched from i.e.

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from another bank. This couldn’t have been Mrs T’s closed Nationwide account as she was able to transfer two direct debits. In any event, Mrs T wasn’t a qualifying Nationwide member and was ineligible for the bonus. He said Nationwide had not made an error about this. The investigator said Nationwide had provided clear information about the scheme and the qualifying criteria, sufficient for Mrs T to make an informed decision about eligibility. He didn’t think Nationwide’s branch staff had intended to be dismissive or rude to Mrs T. Mrs T wasn’t happy with this outcome and requested an ombudsman review her complaint. She said her previous account closed in 2020 and Nationwide’s terms state accounts closed up to 2021 should not be treated as active for eligibility purposes. And yet, the application journey matched to her historic data allowed her to proceed whereas under the Consumer Duty, Nationwide should have clearly identified that she wasn’t eligible for the incentive. The investigator said Mrs T’s points relate to data retention, but she hadn’t complained to Nationwide about that previously. For this reason, he said we can’t address this issue. What I’ve decided – and why I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint. It is always regrettable when a relatively simple process such as switching an account goes wrong. It’s our role to identify if a business has made a mistake or treated a consumer unfairly and if so, look at the impact this has had on the consumer. Mrs T said Nationwide should pay her the switch incentive and compensation for her inconvenience and fix its process to provide customers with clear guidance. She said that Nationwide asking about previous accounts should include a warning that informs applicants who have held a previous account they might be ineligible for the incentive payment. She said that acceptance of her old account details led her to believe eligibility was confirmed. Since those comments, the investigator found that Nationwide’s application didn’t request details of an existing Nationwide account – only the account the switch is coming from. This makes sense as Mrs T’s closed Nationwide account didn’t make her an eligible customer. Mrs T appears to have accepted this point as her complaint has pivoted to the retention by Nationwide of her previous account and use of this information. I’ve looked at Nationwide’s records and found that Mrs T’s account closed on 24 May 2021 not 2020, but more importantly this isn’t relevant to her ineligibility for the switch incentive. The requirement for a live account on 31 March 2025 is clear from the terms and conditions of the scheme. Nationwide has not made a mistake by following these terms in declining Mrs T’s incentive payment. It follows that Mrs T is incorrect to say her closed account influenced her application. It was not Nationwide’s internal matching or data retention that gave the impression she was a qualifying member - the lack of an open Nationwide account showed that she was not eligible. Mrs T said Nationwide’s reliance on terms and conditions does not excuse the absence of upfront warnings, and she was misled to open a new account. Mrs T provided screenshots from her application process. The screenshots state, ‘Great! It looks like you could qualify for our switch offer’, and further, ‘It looks like you’re a Nationwide member’. Nationwide has since shown that these messages are relevant to a more recent, open market switch incentive scheme for which anyone could apply, whereas Mrs T applied for its

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previous member only scheme. I can see that the eligibility criteria were completely different between the schemes as was the amount of the incentive payment. Nationwide has shown that Mrs T would have received the messages she sent to us, as an existing customer after she opened her Nationwide account. For the avoidance of doubt, it is clear that Mrs T did not receive the messages that she forwarded to us at the time of her original application for a Nationwide account, and these screenshots have no bearing on her complaint. I’ve looked at the information Nationwide provided to Mrs T during the application process. I haven’t found that the online journey confirmed eligibility – in fact it stated, ‘Check if your eligible for our switch offer’, and further, ‘Not sure if you can get the offer? Answer a few questions in our eligibility checker.’ The terms and conditions of the incentive scheme were within the information Nationwide provided to Mrs T at the time of her application. The FCA requires businesses to provide customers with information that is clear and not misleading to enable customers to make an informed choice about financial products. I’m satisfied Nationwide’s terms and conditions for the switch scheme are sufficiently clear to have alerted Mrs T to the rules and limitations of the scheme. And Nationwide obtained Mrs T’s confirmation she had read and understood the terms and conditions. I think Nationwide has treated Mrs T fairly in its conduct of the application journey that she went through. I have considered the parties’ comments about Mrs T’s visit to Nationwide’s branch and her complaint about rude and dismissive staff. It’s very difficult to make a finding on something which happened face-to-face – especially when accounts differ. And so, I have to make decisions on the balance of probabilities – that is, what I consider is more likely than not to have happened in light of the available evidence and the wider circumstances. Having done so, I agree with the investigator that it’s very unlikely Nationwide’s branch staff were dismissive or rude to Mrs T. From the timeline of the complaint and Nationwide’s response I can see that Nationwide has followed its own complaint handling process and acted within the timescale set for complaint handling by the FCA. I realise that Mrs T was inconvenienced but I haven’t found that Nationwide has done anything wrong. In conclusion, Mrs T had to hold an open Nationwide account to be eligible for the incentive as Nationwide’s scheme was for members only. The incentive scheme was displayed by Nationwide as ‘Our £200 current account switch offer. Just for our members’. Mrs T’s last Nationwide account closed in May 2021 and so she was not a qualifying member at the time of the offer and the switch incentive was correctly withheld. Our service investigates the merits of complaints on an individual basis and that is what I've done here. I think it’s important to explain that my decision is final. I realise that Mrs T will be very disappointed by this outcome though I hope she appreciates the reasons why it had to be this way. By rejecting the decision, it will be of no legal effect. My final decision For the reasons I have given it is my final decision that the complaint is not upheld. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mrs T to accept or reject my decision before 21 April 2026. Andrew Fraser

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Ombudsman

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