If you bank with Nationwide, you could be due a windfall in the coming months — and if you act now, you can increase your chances of qualifying.
The building society operates as a mutual rather than a traditional bank, meaning it’s owned by and run for the benefit of its members.
As such, Nationwide shares profits among account holders (rather than shareholders) as part of its Fairer Share Payment initiative, commenting: ‘[It’s] our way of rewarding those members who choose us for their everyday banking as well as having savings or a mortgage with us.
Although the scheme hasn’t yet been confirmed for 2026, it’s been running for the past three years, with over 4 million Brits receiving a one-off payout of £100 last time around, taking the total amount paid to over £1 billion.
In terms of when you can expect further details, a spokesperson from the building society tells Metro: ‘Nationwide’s Board will decide on a Fairer Share payment for 2026 and it will depend on our financial performance.
‘That assessment will be made after our financial year end, with the eligibility criteria for this year being agreed then too. The decision will be announced as part of our full year results in May.’
However, in previous years, qualifying for the scheme has meant meeting certain criteria before this official announcement — typically by March.
So if you want to be in the running, your best bet is to get your affairs in order now, before any potential deadlines.
Who will be eligible for the Nationwide bonus?
While the details might differ for 2026, based on the past three years, the Fairer Share bonus has required customers to have held both a qualifying current account as well as a qualifying savings or mortgage account.
Each of the bank’s current accounts (excluding its subsidiaries, such as Clydesdale Bank, Virgin Money or Yorkshire Bank) were eligible, providing certain additional prerequisites were met.
The first of these is that the account was open on March 31 of that year — although those who switched accounts between January 1 and March 31 were exempt from any other requirements.
Otherwise, Nationwide FlexAccount, FlexDirect or FlexBasic holders must have either:
- Received £500 in two of the three months of January, February and March, and made two payments from their account
- Or, completed at least 10 payments out of the account in two of the three months of January, February and March.
The company noted that these ‘separate requirements’ could ‘not be combined’, so if it’s the same as 2025 and you only pay in £500 and make two payments out in February, then made 10 payments out in March, ‘you will not have met these additional requirements.’
Meanwhile, FlexPlus account holders must have paid their monthly fee, and FlexOne, FlexStudent or FlexGraduate customers needed to have made at least one payment in or out during March.
Martin Lewis shares his advice
In a recent edition of his Money Saving Expert (MSE) newsletter, the consumer finance guru recommended following these steps to boost your chances of qualifying:
Existing customers
- Keep any Nationwide current account(s) open until at least March 31, 2026.
- Use your current account during the first three months of the year, the definition of which changes depending on your account type:
- FlexAccount, FlexBasic, FlexDirect: Either receive £500 and make two payments out of your account, make at least 10 outgoing payments, or complete a full current account switch from another provider to Nationwide.
- FlexOne, FlexGraduate, FlexStudent: Either make at least one payment in or out of your account in March 2026, or complete a full current account switch to Nationwide FlexOne or FlexStudent (not FlexGraduate) by March 31, 2026.
- FlexPlus packaged account: No payments in or out are required here, but you need to keep up with your fees to be eligible.
- Ensure you have at least £100 in savings or owe at least £100 on a mortgage with Nationwide in March 2026.
New Nationwide customers
- Switch your current account over to Nationwide by March 31, 2026, at the very latest. You must use the official Current Account Switch Service (CASS) to qualify, which you’ll see as an option when applying.
- Have at least £100 in a Nationwide savings account or at least £100 left on a Nationwide mortgage in March 2026.
Those with investment accounts and stocks and shares weren’t included in the criteria, but savings account holders qualified if they had a minimum of £100 in total across Nationwide personal savings accounts or cash ISAs at the end of any day in March.
When it came to mortgages, customers must have owed at least £100 on their residential mortgage with Nationwide on March 31.
Home loans through subsidiaries such as The Mortgage Works, UCB Home Loans Corporation Limited, or Derbyshire Home Loans Limited were excluded from the bonus, as were commercial mortgages and those not completed by March 31.
What are your thoughts on Nationwide’s Fairer Share Bonus program?
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It's a great initiative to share profits with members.
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I'm not sure it's fair to all customers.
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It doesn't interest me personally.
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I think more banks should adopt similar programs.
When will the Nationwide bonus be paid out?
As mentioned, further details on the Fairer Share scheme will be announced in May, after Nationwide has posted its end of year financial results.
According to MSE, this will likely be around May 29 for 2026, with the £100 bonuses typically being sent to those who qualify from June onwards.
Last year, they were automatically deposited into Nationwide current accounts between June 18 and July 4, appearing on statements as ‘Nationwide Fairer Share Payment’.
Based on previous payouts, you shouldn’t need to make a claim or request the money yourself — and you should be careful of fraudulent attempts at obtaining your personal information to apply.
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