Panic as the Nationwide emails 1.3m to tell them they have no money!

NATIONWIDE Building Soci- ety has come under fire for emailing 1.3 million savers with a ‘ summary’ of their accounts showing they all had balances of zero.

One of the recipients – Don McBeth from Sussex – rushed to his nearest branch of the mutual in a panic after receiving the email last month.

Staff were able to reassure him that his savings were intact, but he felt aggrieved about the worry the statement had caused. So he took his complaint to Nationwide chief executive Joe Garner.

In a letter about the zero balance he told Garner: ‘Both my wife and I have a large amount of money in the Nationwide, and I can assure you it caused a sleepless night to find you have sent us this nonsensical email that says we have none.’

Nationwide has apologised for the distress and confirmed other customers had been in touch about their zero balance. It explained that a change from an annual summary sent in the post in previous years called Savings Promise to an emailed alternative known as SavingsWatch meant it could no longer include balance details.

It told Don data security rules meant it was unable to provide balances by email ‘because it isn’t 100 per cent secure’.

The new summary simply shows the types of accounts savers hold along with the interest rates paid – and what balance is required to receive it. This showed that Don’s Isa accounts pay 1.1 per cent and 1.2 per cent – on balances of ‘£0+’. Nationwide told The Mail on Sunday it plans to improve upon the way this information is displayed for next year.