Nationwide

[Hawcara]

I may have this wrong, but Nationwide seem to be offering new customers to their current account the opportunity to have free travel insurance.

I have written to them to ask if this applies to existing customers, since their withdrawal of the free debit card for currency transactions.

So far I have not got anywhere.

Does anyone know the answer to this?

What other cards are their instead of Nationwide for the cheaper currency?

Thank you *-)

[Jean Ray]

Halifax Clarity Card

 

Ray

[Guest JudgeMental]

I dont think the travel insurance offer is for just new customers *-)

[nowtelse2do]

You have to hold a Flexi account, you pay 2% on what you take out + 1% handling charge = £3 charge for £100 taken out of ATM when abroad. This starts in November.

You get the full euro rate at that day and not the tourist rate + travel insurance, ours is a joint bank account so we are both covered.

I don't know why people are leaving Nationwide, IMO they are as good as any of the mainstream banks, we will stop with them for the moment and see what happens when this financial problem starts to improve.

Better the devil you know.

Dave 

[Guest JudgeMental]

ditto......

[smifee]

I'm leaving to show them I am not happy with this decision.

 

At an AGM I spent 10 minutes discussing card use abroad ( and his salary) with the Nationwide Chairman. He said this was a big selling point for them and they were proud to be different. Are they now proud to be the same?

 

Have changed current account to Halifax and am £110 better off the first year & £60 better off in following years. That will cover a lot of foreign use charges. :->

 

When Halifaxchange the account terms etc and withdraw the £5 a month 'bonus' I'll change accounts again.

 

These institutions only react to their 'bottom line' and if not enough people leave the bright spark who came up with this scheme and the board get their bonus.

 

Transferring ISA this week.

 

Apathy means not enough people will leave. :-(

[Derek Uzzell]

Hawcara - 2010-09-25 9:46 AM

 

I may have this wrong, but Nationwide seem to be offering new customers to their current account the opportunity to have free travel insurance.

I have written to them to ask if this applies to existing customers, since their withdrawal of the free debit card for currency transactions.

So far I have not got anywhere.

Does anyone know the answer to this?

What other cards are their instead of Nationwide for the cheaper currency?

Thank you *-)

 

The terms and conditions for Nationwide's current account are clearly described on their website, so there shouldn't really be a need to write to Nationwide about this. The eligibility criteria for the travel insurance benefit are given on:

 

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/travel-cover-eligibility.htm

 

Some earlier Nationwide-related forum discussions are on:

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=20981&posts=23

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=20716&start=1

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=20448&start=1

 

Although many suggestions have been offered on how to obtain 'cheap' cash for use abroad, to the best of my knowledge there is nothing currently available that's equivalent to the original 'no strings attached' Nationwide Flexaccount debit card.

 

 

[nowtelse2do]

smifee - 2010-09-26 7:56 AM  Have changed current account to Halifax and am £110 better off the first year & £60 better off in following years. That will cover a lot of foreign use charges. :-> (

If you can predict what Halifax will do in the next few years, then I think CliveH would welcome some of your financal knowledge. ;-)

Dave 

[enodreven]

Hi,

 

We have been with Nationwide for several years now and qualify for the free ? insurance however because of a couple of relatively minor ailments the top up to include them is more than the total cost of what we currently pay our existing travel insurance company, so that good deal is out of the window for us.

 

 

[maggyd]

braunston - 2010-09-26 10:29 AM

 

Hi,

 

We have been with Nationwide for several years now and qualify for the free ? insurance however because of a couple of relatively minor ailments the top up to include them is more than the total cost of what we currently pay our existing travel insurance company, so that good deal is out of the window for us.

 

 

 

 

And Us >:-(

[Porky]

Lets face it the travel insurance benefit is a con. Read the small print. For real people over a certain age with the usual medical conditions it is worthless. Lloyds also provide "free" travel insurance with their Gold account. Yeah right you have to book through a travel agent and again read the small print and see the exclusions. These "headline " benefits can not be free. Nothing is free. There is a cost somewhere which has to be recovered.

Personally my life is too full to spend time agonising over 0.004% on next to nothing, which is close to the amount we manage on. It must be a real problem though for all you rich people out there.>:-)

[flicka]

I signe dthe petition on the previous thread, to convey my annoyance at Nationwide for removal of the foreign spending benefits. Like many others (I suspect the majority) the travel insurance offer is of no use to us whatsoever, due to pre-existant medical conditions.

Although I have remained with Nationwide to date because I have still to find anything better, BUT I still maintain that if sufficient Nationwide customers state their dissappointment, annotance, etc., then just maybe they will discontinue taking unilateral change without firstly considering their Customers.

We do after all pay their wages / salaries.

[Derek Uzzell]

flicka - 2010-09-26 8:13 PM

 

I signe dthe petition on the previous thread, to convey my annoyance at Nationwide for removal of the foreign spending benefits. Like many others (I suspect the majority) the travel insurance offer is of no use to us whatsoever, due to pre-existant medical conditions.

Although I have remained with Nationwide to date because I have still to find anything better, BUT I still maintain that if sufficient Nationwide customers state their dissappointment, annotance, etc., then just maybe they will discontinue taking unilateral change without firstly considering their Customers.

We do after all pay their wages / salaries.

 

Rather than having made a "unilateral change without firstly considering their customers", Nationwide have done exactly the opposite - considered their Flexaccount holders and the way those folk have been using their accounts, and then taken a business decision to alter the terms and conditions of the Flexaccount Visa debit card. Whether or not this move proves to be positive or negative as far as Nationwide's future profitability is concerned remains to be seen, but there can be no doubt that Nationwide will have concluded that the change should be beneficial.

 

For motorcaravanners with Nationwide Flexaccount Visa debit cards that they have employed in the past to obtain fee-free cash abroad, I would guess that many won't qualify for the free travel insurance benefit or will choose to ignore the offer. I would also guess that most of these people will stay with Nationwide and pay the new fees, either through inertia or (like myself and, presumably, like Flicka) having decided the fees aren't outrageous and that using the Flexaccount Visa debit card for 'foreign' cash suits them.

 

If those guesses are right, then Nationwide's profitability should improve. If they are wrong and a massive number of Flexaccount Visa debit card users are so peeved about the forthcoming changes that they transfer their accounts and investments to alternative financial organisations then Nationwide's profitability will decrease.

 

I suppose there is a possibility that, if Nationwide received angry letters from huge numbers of Flexaccount Visa debit card holders (particularly from customers whose Flexaccount is clearly their 'main' current account, not just a vehicle to obtain fee-free foreign cash), complaining about the forthcoming change and threatening to transfer their money elsewhere, and that Nationwide saw this actually happening, that the change-decision might be reversed. But a little misspelled petition with a few signatures on it is hardly going to be a effective weapon to compel Nationwide to change their minds. You might as well try using a kid's water-pistol to stop a tank.

 

 

[chas]

The tank driver has to be at the AGM, thats the time to sqirt the water pistol. >:-(

[lennyhb]

Porky - 2010-09-26 5:50 PM

 

Lets face it the travel insurance benefit is a con. Read the small print. For real people over a certain age with the usual medical conditions it is worthless. Lloyds also provide "free" travel insurance with their Gold account. Yeah right you have to book through a travel agent and again read the small print and see the exclusions. These "headline " benefits can not be free. Nothing is free. There is a cost somewhere which has to be recovered.

Personally my life is too full to spend time agonising over 0.004% on next to nothing, which is close to the amount we manage on. It must be a real problem though for all you rich people out there.>:-)

 

The travel insurance that comes with our Lloyds Platinum Plus account is excellent none of the restrictions you mention and covers up to the age of 80.