Nationwide announce complete overhaul of existing savings accounts

Nationwide, one of the UKís biggest saving account providers, has announced that it will ditch a number of its well-known savings accounts in favour of a new range that will be ësimpler and easierí to choose from for its customers.

The building society identified that the move was a response to calls from its members who had alerted them that ìtoo much choiceî had made their range of products ëconfusingí and difficult to choose from.

Nationwideís announcement follows a similar move from RBS and its subsidiary NatWest last year, when they slashed the quantity of cash Isa's they were marketing, and also moved all customers on older and more complex Isa's, onto a newer single product.

The latter occurrence was an area of huge controversy as certain individuals who were switched enjoyed a superior rate to the deal they signed up for whilst some saw the rate on their account slide substantially following the transfer. 

However, Nationwide have moved to downplay the likelihood of a similar occurrence happening, identifying that customers on older savings accounts can switch to a new single product one, and retain the rates that they currently enjoy. 

The 5 market offerings that have been ditched are its CashBuilder, E-Savings, E-Savings Plus, Web Isa and MySave Online Plus accounts, which were described as being too complex and inadequate for purpose.

They have instead been placed by a series of single product offerings, which include its instant access 1.5% ISA Saver, 1.25% Limited Access Saver, who enables users to make five instant access withdrawals per annum without harming the rate, and its Instant Access Saver, who has a 0.5% rate attached to it.

The new offerings have also seen Nationwide fulfil its long term aim of removing introductory bonuses to its accounts, with none of the new accounts having them included. 

"This change means none of Nationwide's on-sale range of savings accounts currently has any introductory bonus," a spokeswoman said. 

Young savers boosted

Alongside its new launch of conventional savings accounts, Nationwide has also unveiled a number of ëmarket leadingí junior savings accounts that are set to garner widespread attention amongst parents across the UK.

The new Smart Limited Access offers savers 3% on their investment, and can opened for all young children aged between 7 and 18. The account only takes £1 to open up, and enables parents to receive interest on up to £50,000. 

Other new deals include Nationwideís Flexclusive ISA, which gives savers 1.75%, and itís Easy Saver ISA, which gives users 1.6% annual returns on their savings. 

Nationwideís best offering currently on the junior savings market is its Smart Junior ISA, which has retained its rate of 3.25% and is highly flexible. However, all of its new products have no introductory bonus attached to them, which further conveys the building societies realisation of its ambition to completely simplify its products.

 

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