How to boost chances of being eligible for Nationwide’s £100 Fairer Share bonus

One of the benefits of banking with Nationwide is the building society’s “Fairer Share” payment, which was paid to more than four million customers in 2025.

The £100 bonus has been distributed among eligible customers annually since 2023 as a way to share its success with members. The bonus is usually paid into accounts in June.

As a mutual owned by members not shareholders, Nationwide is able to share some of its profits with members rather than paying dividends.

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Last year’s payment came as the mutual giant posted record pre-tax profits of £2.3 billion in the year to April 2025.

The Fairer Share bonus is not guaranteed each year – and nor is it necessarily paid to all account holders.

In previous years eligibility for Fairer Share was determined by the activity in your account in March. If Nationwide repeats the Fairer Share payment in 2026 but you didn’t match the eligibility criteria last month, you won’t get the bonus this year.

The building society usually announces whether or not the payment will be made alongside its full year results in May, and it depends on how well it has performed in that financial year.

Not every Nationwide customer is eligible to receive the payment, as the building society says it aims to reward customers who use them for Nationwide “everyday banking.”

Jessica Sheldon, MoneyWeek's deputy digital editor, said: "We see far too many instances where loyalty doesn't pay. That's why it was great to see Nationwide rewarding its loyal members with a £100 bonus for the third year running in 2025.”

Will there be a Nationwide Fairer Share payment in 2026?

Nationwide is expected to announce details of its Fairer Share payment on May 21 2026, when it publishes its full year results.

Nationwide has previously said it wants to make a Fairer Share payment every year to give back to its customers – though this is dependent on how well they have performed in a given year to ensure it is not “detrimental” to the strength of its finances.

The first Fairer Share bonus started in 2023 and payments were also made in 2024 and in 2025.

Nationwide is under no legal obligation to make the Fairer Share payment and it can be stopped for any reason whatsoever.

The building society said: “Nationwide has paid out a Fairer Share Payment since 2023. The payment is dependent on Nationwide’s financial strength and is subject to board approval.”

So will there be a Fairer Share payment in 2026? The simple answer is that we don’t know yet.

If Nationwide has a good financial year in 2025/26, we can expect to see one, but if it misses expectations, there may be no payment.

Who is eligible for Nationwide's £100 Fairer Share payment?

The last Fairer Share payment was distributed to Nationwide customers that had a current account, plus a “qualifying savings or mortgage product”. This was also the case in 2024 and 2023.

If the payment goes ahead this year, it is likely that the eligibility criteria will be similar.

For previous payments, eligibility depended on factors including the type of current account you had, how much you held in savings, and whether or not you had a mortgage with Nationwide.

Current account eligibility in 2025

If you had the FlexPlus account, you needed to have paid the monthly fee for maintaining the account.

For FlexOne, FlexStudent or FlexGraduate, you had to have received at least one payment in or made one payment out of your account during March 2025.

For FlexAccount, FlexDirect or FlexBasic, you needed 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.

If you had completed a switch through the Current Account Switch Service between 1 January 2025 and 31 March 2025, you did not need to have met the above requirements.

In 2025, qualifying current accounts didn’t include ones with Nationwide’s subsidiaries, such as Clydesdale Bank plc (which also trades as Virgin Money or Yorkshire Bank).

The cut-off date to meet the above criteria for the 2025 payment Nationwide was 31 March.

Note you also needed to meet the savings or mortgage eligibility rules below.

Savings and mortgage eligibility in 2025

For the qualifying savings element, in 2025, 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 did not include Nationwide Business Savings accounts, investment accounts like a stocks and shares ISA, or accounts with subsidiaries.

If you didn’t have a qualifying savings account, you were also eligible for the Fairer Share payment if you had a mortgage with the building society. You must have owed at least £100 on your Nationwide residential mortgage on 31 March 2025.

This did not include mortgages with Nationwide’s subsidiaries.

Nationwide commercial mortgages also did not qualify, and nor did mortgages applied for but not completed by 31 March 2025.

You can find out more in the full set of Fairer Share terms and conditions 2025.

Last year, eligible customers were notified of the payment through a notification message seen when they logged into their internet banking or app. An email or letter was also sent.

Will Nationwide's Fairer Share payment be taxed?

In 2025, the £100 Fairer Share payment was treated as interest for UK income tax purposes.

While Nationwide did not deduct any income tax from the payment, it was reported to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

If the 2026 payment goes ahead, how much tax you pay on the bonus will depend on how much you’ve already earned from interest payments in the 2026/27 tax year.

If you are a basic rate taxpayer, you do not have to pay any tax on savings interest up to £1,000. This is known as the personal savings allowance (PSA). Interest earned above that will be taxed at 20% (rising to 22% from April 2027).

The tax-free PSA falls to £500 for higher rate taxpayers – interest earned above £500 is taxed at 40% (increasing to 42% from April 2027).

Additional rate taxpayers have to pay tax on every penny of interest their cash earns, taxed at 45%.

If you haven't used your personal allowance (£12,570) on wages, pension or other income, then you can also 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 for a Fairer Share payment, 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 incorrectly exclude 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.”

To make sure you do not wrongly miss out on a potential payment in 2026, you should make sure all the information Nationwide needs is up to date.

Will Virgin Money customers qualify for this year’s Fairer Share payment?

Nationwide’s purchase of Virgin Money was legally finalised on 2 April 2026, bringing the two businesses together.

Not all Virgin Money customers have automatically become members of the mutual though.

Only Virgin Money customers with personal current accounts, savings and mortgages are now classed as members. This accounts for around half of Virgin Money’s 6.3 million customers.

Any other customers, such as those with credit cards or business bank accounts, can become Nationwide members by signing up for a Virgin Money or Nationwide current account, savings account or mortgage.

The approximately half of Virgin Money customers who are members will not qualify for this year’s Fairer Share payment, if there is one, as they have missed the March cut-off.

However, they would be eligible for the 2027 payment if Nationwide decides to make one then.

Stephen Noakes, Nationwide's director of retail, said: “The acquisition of Virgin Money enables us to expand the benefits of mutuality, and we look forward to sharing the additional value we can create for our new members.

“From exclusive savings rates to existing member benefits, we want there to be every reason to join Britain's biggest building society, which continues to be the UK's most switched to current account provider.”