Nationwide has millions of customers in the UK (Image: Getty)
Nationwide has issued a £50 update to its millions of customers, as many will be better off in a certain circumstance. The world’s largest building society reached out to all its members in an email on Thursday, November 21.
Many banks will offer overdrafts with their current, and other, accounts. is no different, and as is often the case, entering into these overdrafts usually comes with a fee.
However, Nationwide has now said those with certain accounts can avoid overdraft charges – up to a certain amount. The emails from Nationwide read: “To make things a little easier for people, we have made the first £50 of arranged overdrafts interest-free for FlexPlus, FlexDirect and FlexAccount holders.
“So, if you need to dip into your arranged overdraft in future, this extra little buffer will be there for you. This change has already happened, so you don’t need to do anything.”
Once you go over the £50 mark, the fees come back into play, as Nationwide added: “If you borrow more than £50, you will be charged. You won’t be charged interest on the first £50 of your overdraft.
“If you borrow any amount over £50, your usual variable of 39.9% a year compounded will apply.”
This latest correspondence from the building society comes after bosses urged members to make a “budget plan” ahead of what is often a very expensive time of year. It added that this should be “personal to you and help you decide what you want to spend, and where you’ve decided to cut back”.
People have been advised to work out their monthly income, go back through statements to see how this is being spent, and then categorise purchases into “musts”, for example bills, and “wants”, such as hobbies and eating out.
An example then given by Nationwide was to then implement a 50-30-20 rule, the idea being you’d aim to spend 50% of your take-home pay on musts, 30% on wants, and the remaining 20% would be placed into savings, or on paying off debts.