Nationwide to pay £100 'Fairer Share' bonus to millions of customers this month – here's who will get the payment

A total of £385 million will be paid to 3.85 million customers, after the building society announced profits of £2 billion in the last tax year. This is the second time Nationwide has made this kind of payment – last year, it paid a total of £340 million to 3.4 million customers.

Nationwide has been facing criticism recently over its plans to buy rival lender Virgin Money, with thousands of people signing a petition calling on the building society to "give members a say" on the deal.

Here's who will get the £100 Nationwide payment

As was the case last year, not all Nationwide customers will get the payment – we've summarised the eligibility criteria below.

If you're eligible, you should've received a letter and/or email last month letting you know.

If you qualify, you'll get the payment automatically – watch out for scams asking you to apply

The money will be paid directly into your Nationwide current account between Thursday 13 June and Friday 28 June and will appear on your statement as 'Nationwide Fairer Share Payment'.

If you close your account before the £100 is paid, and you don't have another Nationwide current account, you won't be eligible to receive the reward, as Nationwide says it won't make the payment any other way.

Watch out for scams inviting you to claim or apply for the payment or asking you to hand over your personal details.

The payment will be treated as savings income for tax purposes

The £100 payment is taxable savings income, which will be treated in the same way as any interest you earn on your savings account or current account.

This means most people won't have to pay tax on the reward, as thanks to the personal savings allowance most people don't pay tax on savings.

But if you're a higher-rate taxpayer and/or you have a substantial amount in non-ISA savings, you may have to pay tax on the £100 bonus – our Personal savings allowance guide has more info.

On Universal Credit? Check if you need to report the payment

The Department for Work and Pensions told us that, for the purposes of working out your Universal Credit entitlement, the £100 payment would be treated as 'capital' (in other words, savings).

Under Universal Credit rules, you can have up to £6,000 in savings or other capital without this affecting your benefit entitlement (if you live with your partner, bear in mind their savings also count towards this total). 

This means you only need to report the £100 payment if it has taken you over the £6,000 total limit. For more on this, see our Universal Credit guide.

Nationwide has also launched a £200 bank switch bonus and 5.5% savings for existing customers

In addition to the Fairer Share payment, Nationwide is also offering existing customers:

• A free £200 to switch a current account from another provider to Nationwide. To get this, you must:

  - Have had a Nationwide current account, savings account or mortgage on 31 March 2024 (there are a few limited exclusions – see the full terms for more info).

  - Complete a full switch from another provider using the Current Account Switch Service.

  - Transfer two or more Direct Debits as part of the switch.

  You can get the bonus even if you already have a current account with Nationwide by requesting the switch through your online banking.

• A fixed-rate savings account paying 5.5% on up to £10,000 for 18 months. This beats the current top one-year and two-year fixes, which pay up to 5.16% and 5.06% respectively.

  The fixed-rate saver is available to anyone who had a Nationwide current account, savings account or mortgage account on 22 May 2024 (and still has one at the time of applying for the new savings account).