Currently... we’re No 1

Building society boasts it’s best

NATIONWIDE Building Society reckons it’s become king of the current accounts, beating the High Street banks at their own game.

Last year it welcomed a record 795,000 new accounts and the mutual said it’s now attracting a fifth of all bank account switchers. In total, around 3.5 million people now have a current account with the building society, which has a 7.5% share of the market. Many have been attracted by Nationwide’s offers of 5% interest on credit balances or through linked savings accounts. But experts warn people against switching for such gimmicks as the deals end after 12 months. Andrew Hagger, of Moneycomms.co.uk, said: “The banks and building societies are battling as hard as ever to try to win your custom. However, jumping ship for a cash incentive or short-term high interest rate could prove to be an expensive mistake in the long run. “It’s more important to find a bank account that mirrors the way you run your day-to-day finances.”

But Chris Rhodes, of the Nationwide, claimed customer numbers are growing because of the mutual’s higher standards of service.

“We’re finding the primary reason people are attracted to us and sticking with us is because of our member advocacy and quality service,” he said. “In a market that’s hard to grow, we’ve moved to the No 1 position”.

The building society yesterday published its annual accounts which showed that membership has hit an all-time high of 15 million.

Although profits slumped 23% to £1.03billion, chief executive Joe Garner said that was because it gave members a £505million boost “by maintaining selected savings rates while passing on the base rate decrease in full to mortgage borrowers”.