Nationwide has announced that it will make another £100 Fairer Share payment this year to eligible customers.
The Fairer Share bonus will be paid to more than four million members this summer.
It marks the third annual payment in a row, after the building society started the initiative in 2023.
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The £100 payment follows a surprise £50 "thank-you bonus", which about 12 million customers received in April, following the building society's takeover of Virgin Money.
Nationwide has also launched a new savings account – an 18-month Member Exclusive Bond paying 5% – plus a £200 member-only switching offer.
The trio of announcements come as the mutual giant posted record pre-tax profits of £2.3 billion in the year to April.
Debbie Crosbie, chief executive at Nationwide said: “Nationwide has had an outstanding 12 months. We returned a record £2.8 billion in value to our members and recorded our highest ever year for growth in mortgage lending and retail deposit balances, and we remain first for customer service.”
The arrival of another £100 bonus, plus a 5% savings bond and £200 switching incentive, should help offset the interest rate cuts to 16 Nationwide savings accounts, which will kick in on 1 June, in response to the Bank of England lowering the base rate.
However, not all customers will qualify for the £100 Fairer Share payment. Nationwide, which is the world’s biggest building society, has more than 17 million customers – but only four million will receive the bonus.
We look at who is eligible for the payment, and when it will hit customers’ current accounts.
Who is eligible for Nationwide's £100 Fairer Share payment?
The £100 bonus will be paid to Nationwide customers that have a current account, plus a “qualifying savings or mortgage product”.
In terms of the current account, if it’s the FlexPlus, you must have paid the monthly fee for maintaining the account.
For FlexOne, FlexStudent or FlexGraduate, you must have received at least one payment in or made one payment out of your account during March 2025.
For FlexAccount, FlexDirect or FlexBasic, you need to have met one of the following requirements:
- In two of the three months of January 2025, February 2025 and March 2025, you must have received at least £500 into your current account (transfers in from other Nationwide accounts do not count), and have made at least two payments out of your current account. For example: you paid in £500 and made two payments out in both February and March 2025.
- Or, in two of the three months of January 2025, February 2025 and March 2025, you must have made at least 10 payments out of your current account. For example: you made 10 payments out in January 2025 and 10 payments out in March 2025.
You do not need to have met the above requirements if you completed a switch to your account using the Current Account Switch Service between 1 January 2025 and 31 March 2025.
Qualifying current accounts don’t include ones with Nationwide’s subsidiaries, such as Clydesdale Bank plc (which also trades as Virgin Money or Yorkshire Bank).
You need to have met these criteria when Nationwide last checked on 31 March this year.
In terms of qualifying savings, you must have had at least £100 in total in one or more personal savings accounts or cash ISAs with Nationwide at the end of any day in March 2025.
This does not include Nationwide Business Savings accounts, investment accounts like a stocks and shares ISA, or accounts with subsidiaries.
If you don’t have a qualifying savings account, you may be eligible for the Fairer Share payment if you have a mortgage with the building society. You must have owed at least £100 on your Nationwide residential mortgage on 31 March 2025.
Mortgages with Clydesdale Bank, Virgin Money, Yorkshire Bank, The Mortgage Works (UK), UCB Home Loans Corporation, Derbyshire Home Loans, and E-Mex Home Funding do not count.
Nationwide commercial mortgages also do not qualify, and nor do mortgages applied for but which had not completed by 31 March 2025.
You can find out more in the Fairer Share terms and conditions.
Customers who are eligible for the payment should see a notification message when they log into their internet banking or app. They will also be sent an email or letter by 30 May.
You can also use the online eligibility checker to see if you’ll qualify for the bonus.
When will the Nationwide £100 Fairer Share bonus be paid?
The bonus will be paid directly into customers’ Nationwide current account between 18 June and 4 July.
If you hold more than one current account with the building society, it may pay the money into any of those accounts.
The payment will appear on your current account statement as "Nationwide Fairer Share Payment".
Make sure you keep your account open while you wait for the bonus, as Nationwide says “if you do not have an open Nationwide current account when we try to make the payment, you will not be eligible to receive it”.
Why is Nationwide paying the £100 Fairer Share bonus again?
As a mutual owned by members not shareholders, Nationwide is able to share some of its profits with members rather than paying dividends.
Nationwide called its full-year financial results that it announced today “outstanding”, with “record growth in retail deposits and net mortgage lending, including help for more first-time buyers than any other lender in the UK”.
Statutory profit before tax rose to a record £2.3 billion, “even after returning £1 billion directly back to members through last year’s Fairer Share Payment and The Big Nationwide Thank You”.
The building society has said it intends to pay the Fairer Share bonus every year on the condition it will not be “detrimental” to the strength of its finances.
Nationwide paid its first £100 Fairer Share cash bonus back in 2023, with £340 million distributed to members via the scheme.
Last year, Nationwide announced the second £100 Fairer Share Payment on 23 May 2024, with £385 million paid to members who chose Nationwide for their everyday banking and had a qualifying savings or mortgage product.
This year more than £400 million will be paid out (£100 payments to more than four million members), bringing the Fairer Share grand total to more than £1.1 billion since 2023.
It means that more and more customers have qualified for the payment each year, rising from 3.4 million in 2023 to more than four million today.
Will Nationwide's Fairer Share payment be taxed?
The £100 Fairer Share payment is treated as interest for UK income tax purposes. While Nationwide won't deduct any income tax from the payment, it will be reported to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Most people can earn some interest from their savings before they're taxed on it, so you might not have to pay tax on the £100 bonus.
Thanks to the personal savings allowance, taxpayers can earn up to £1,000 of interest tax-free.
This depends on your income tax band though – the allowance is £1,000 for basic-rate taxpayers and £500 for those in the higher-rate band. Additional-rate taxpayers don’t have a personal savings allowance.
If you haven't used your personal allowance (£12,570) on wages, pension or other income, then you can use it on interest on savings.
If your income is less than £17,570 then you'll qualify for the starting rate for savings. This means you can get up to £5,000 of interest without being taxed on it.
Our "savings tax trap" guide explores the rules in more detail.
"Nationwide says I’m not eligible, but I think I am. What should I do?"
Nationwide says it “will decide whether you are eligible for the Fairer Share payment based on the information we hold about you and the products you have with us”.
If it has incomplete, inaccurate, or out-of-date information, it may mean it wrongly excludes customers from the payment. The building society says: “We will make the payment if we find out you were wrongly excluded, but we will not be liable for any other loss you may incur if this happens.”
It advises: “If, after checking your eligibility, you think you have been wrongly excluded, please get in touch and if we have got it wrong, we will take steps to put it right.”
