There is a Nationwide ‘maximum’ rule you may not realise applies to you
Nationwide Building Society members may want to check over their old account statements. You may find you are eligible for a payment into your account, even if you initially thought you weren’t.
Customers can currently pocket a £175 payment if they will switch over their current account over to Nationwide, from a non-Nationwide account. You may qualify for the one-off payment if you switch to a new or existing FlexAccount, FlexDirect or FlexPlus account. You need to complete a full account switch from a non-Nationwide or non-Virgin Money current account to get the amount. These switch offers often stipulate that they are only available to people who have not previously cashed in on a similar offer from the same provider.
But if you previously had some switching cash from Nationwide, you may still be eligible for this offer. If you visit the guidance page for the £175 offer on the Nationwide website, there is a section that tells previous switch offer claimants that “you might be able to” get this one.
Nationwide ‘maximum of 2’ rule
The rules set out: “You can get our switch offer a maximum of 2 times. Once on your first eligible sole account and once on your first eligible joint account.” The idea here is if you previously cashed in a Nationwide switch offer for a sole account, you can get this one this time round for a joint account.
In this case, the other person named on the account must also not have previously had a Nationwide switch offer for a joint account before. This works the other way around too – if you previously had some bonus cash from the building society for switching to a joint account, now you could get £175 for switching to an account in your sole name.
You can only get the offer if this is your first switch to either a sole or joint account since 2021. There have been several Nationwide bonus payments since then that you may have previously taken advantage of.
Check your statements
If you are checking over your accounts to see if you previously had some switching cash from Nationwide, the group last ran a switch offer from September 2025 to March 2026, offering a similar £175 bonus. The building society has also previously offered an even bigger £200 incentive to switch over to them.
You could get £200 for switching to them from October to November 2022 and from September to December 2023. There was also a member exclusive £200 offer from May to July 2024 and from May to July 2025.
So if you previously bagged one of these £200 bonuses, you could get £375 in total if you can also get the £175 this time.
What do you have to do to get the Nationwide £175 switch offer?
These steps need to be completed to get the current £175 payment:
- Apply to switch a new or existing FlexDirect, FlexAccount or FlexPlus. You must switch from a non-Nationwide or non-Virgin Money current account. You need to move over at least two direct debits as part of your switch
- Arrange a full switch using the Current Account Switch Service. This must include closing your old account. Your switch must be completed within 28 days
- Pay in at least £1,000 into the new account and make at least one debit card payment. This has to be done within 31 days of your new account opening or when you applied to switch over to an existing account.
