Last year, four million Nationwide customers received £100 each as part of the building society’s Fairer Share Payment initiative.
As Nationwide shares profits among members (rather than shareholders), the annual scheme has seen more than £1 billion issued as one-off loyalty ‘reward’ bonuses in the three years since its inception.
Whether it’ll return for 2026 likely won’t be confirmed until May. If it does, though, doing the groundwork now will ensure you’re in the best possible position to get hold of this welcome cash boost.
In the latest edition of his newsletter, Martin Lewis shared the Money Saving Expert (MSE) guide to maximising your chances for Nationwide’s ‘free’ £100.
Using Fairer Share eligibility from previous years, the site’s consumer finance gurus explain that qualifying ‘depended on whether you met the qualifying criteria in the first three months of the year.’
As such, ‘now’s the perfect time’ to get everything in order — which existing customers and newbies alike can do in just a few simple (albeit slightly different) steps.
Existing Nationwide customers
Assuming the initiative comes with the same prerequisites as before, MSE says the first thing you need to do is keep any Nationwide current account(s) open until at least March 31, 2026.
Secondly, you have to use your current account during the first three months of the year, although what this entails depends on the type of account you hold:
- FlexAccount, FlexBasic, FlexDirect: Either receive £500 and make two payments out of your account, make at least 10 outgoing payments, or complete a full current account switch from another provider to Nationwide.
- FlexOne, FlexGraduate, FlexStudent: Either make at least one payment in or out of your account in March 2026, or complete a full current account switch to Nationwide FlexOne or FlexStudent (not FlexGraduate) by March 31, 2026.
- FlexPlus packaged account: No payments in or out are required here, but you need to keep up with your fees to be eligible.
The third and final step is to ensure you have at least £100 in savings or owe at least £100 on a mortgage with Nationwide in March 2026.
If you don’t have either of these products with the building society, MSE claims it might be a good idea to ‘stick £100 (or maybe £200 to be safe in case it changes its terms) into one of its savings accounts.’
New Nationwide customers
If you aren’t a member but want to put your hat in the ring for a potential Fairer Share bonus payout, you’ll need to switch your current account over to Nationwide by March 31, 2026, at the very latest.
According to MSE, the £175 bonus, 5% interest on up to £1,500 deposited, and up to £5 a month cashback on debit card spending for a year, offered when you sign up to a FlexDirect account, ‘makes it a good all-rounder.’
Better still, though, ‘if Nationwide keeps the same eligibility criteria as previously, it’s easier to get the Fairer Share payment by switching than it is being an existing customer, as fewer rules apply.’
Keep in mind, you must use the official Current Account Switch Service (CASS) to qualify, which you’ll see as an option when applying. And since the process normally takes seven working days to go through, it’s better to do so earlier rather than later.
After you switch, MSE says you’ll also need to have at least £100 in a Nationwide savings account or at least £100 left on a Nationwide mortgage in March 2026.
Additionally, the site warns that previous bonuses have been treated as taxable savings income, and although this won’t affect most people, it may be an issue for higher-rate taxpayers or those with a substantial amount in non-ISA savings.
When will the Nationwide bonus be paid out?
If the mutual bank does decide to bring back Fairer Share Payments for 2026, the decision is usually announced after Nationwide’s full-year results are released in May.
Last time around, eligible members were contacted by May 31, with bonuses deposited into members’ accounts between June 18 and July 4, 2025 — and since the scheme has followed a similar timeline in previous years, the cash could very well be yours before summer.
That said, nothing is confirmed yet, so we’ll keep you posted with updates on this year’s initiative as and when they’re available.
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
