Terms and Conditions and How to use your account
FLEXONE
How this document works
This document contains important information to help you understand the key features of the FlexOne account and to understand whether this account is right for you. It also contains the terms and conditions for the account which form the legal agreement between you and us. This means that each of us will do what we say in the agreement. You can ask us for a copy of the terms and conditions and the other information in this document at any time.
If you change your mind
If you change your mind after you’ve opened the account and decide that you don’t want it, you can have your money returned as well as any interest you have earned by having money in the account. But you must tell us that this is what you want to do within 28 days of opening your account.
About us
Nationwide Building Society is a mutual, which means we’re a business that’s owned by our members and run for their benefit with no shareholders to satisfy in the way that banks do.
By opening a FlexOne current account with us, you’ll become a member of Nationwide Building Society. You can find out more information about being a member by looking at our membership rules, which you can get a copy of by asking in branch or looking on our website.
About our charitable assignment scheme
Since 3 November 1997, those customers who have become members of Nationwide on opening an account have been required to sign up to our charitable assignment scheme. When your FlexOne account is opened you will become legally bound by our charitable assignment scheme.
This means:
you will become a member of The Nationwide Foundation if you are not a member already.
The Foundation is a registered charity and is a focus for our charitable giving
you agree with us and with the Foundation to assign to the Foundation your rights to any windfall benefits (e.g. money or shares) you might otherwise have received in the unlikely event that we transfer our business to a company.
The terms binding you to the scheme are set out under the heading ‘Charitable Assignment’
(page 11) at the end of the terms and conditions for your account.
Throughout this document you’ll see words in bold print, you can find out what these words mean in the Glossary section (page 29) at the back of this document.
Terms and Conditions
Contents
3 Terms and Conditions 11 Charitable Assignment
13 How to use your FlexOne account 29 Glossary
Terms and Conditions
Paying money in and taking money out of your account
There are a number of ways of paying money in and taking money out of your account.
These are described later in this document. There’s also important information about how to give us instructions to make payments and when you can cancel those instructions, the information you must give us so we can make a payment for you, when you can take money out of your account and using your debit or cash card.
1 To ensure that you can always pay for things you want, it’s important that you make sure you have enough money in your account before spending it.
2 If you want to take money out of your account, you’ll need to tell us that’s what you want to do. This is called giving your consent; how you give us your consent depends on how you want to take money out of your account:
if you’re using your card, you may need to use your PIN
if you buy things in shops using your debit card, you might be asked to sign your name on the sales voucher
if you want to take money out of your account in other ways (e.g. through Internet Banking) we’ll tell you before you make payments how to give your consent.
3 We may also ask you to prove that you are who you say you are by showing us some identification like a passport; we’ll let you know what sort of identification we can accept if we need you to show it to us.
4 If you ask us to send money to someone else’s bank account and that person has moved the account to a different bank or building society, we may send the money to the new account.
5 There might be limits on the amount of money that you can send to someone else’s account depending on how you ask us to send the money. We also set limits on the amount of money you can take out of your account at cash machines or in branch. You can find out what these limits are by looking on our website or asking in branch. If we change the amount of these limits we’ll usually tell you about the changes before we make them.
Payments in a foreign currency
There’s more important information later in this document about how payments in a foreign currency (other than UK pounds) can be made into and out of your account.
6 Automated payments into or out of your account in a foreign currency will be converted to or from UK pounds using the exchange rate set by the bank we use to receive or send these payments.
This exchange rate is set at least once a day and can change without giving you any notice.
7 If you use your debit card to buy things online, in shops or over the phone or use your cash or debit card to take money out of a cash machine in a foreign currency (e.g. when you’re on holiday), the amount you’ve spent in the foreign currency will be turned into UK pounds by the card scheme provider. The card scheme provider will use its exchange rate which might change each day without giving you any notice.
Interest on money in your account
There’s more important information later in this document about when the money in your account starts to earn interest, how much interest we’ll pay and whether we can pay you interest without deducting any income tax.
8 We may pay you interest on the money in your account. Interest is calculated daily and paid monthly on the last day of the month. You can find out the interest rate on your account by looking on our website or asking in branch for our Current Accounts – interest Rates and Charges leaflet.
Stopping money being paid into or being taken out of your account There is more important information later in this document about how you or we can stop money being paid into or taken out of your account.
9 The card we give you to use with your account belongs to us and you must return it to us if we ask you to. If we think it’s necessary for your and/or our protection then we might stop you using your card and PIN at any time without telling you first. For example, we can do this if we think that your card is being used for fraudulent purposes. If we can’t tell you before we do this, we’ll tell you straight afterwards. We’ll tell you at least seven days before we stop you from using your card and PIN if we don’t think we need to act straight away.
10 You can only use your card to do things which aren’t against the law. If you don’t, we can stop you from using your card.
11 If you’ve asked us to pay money into or take money out of your account, we can refuse to do it if:
we reasonably think that it wasn’t you who asked us to do it we reasonably suspect fraudulent activity
you haven’t given us the necessary information, or haven’t made it clear, what you want us to do you are asking us to do something which is against the law or a regulation, code or other duty which we have to comply with, or
it would mean that you go over a limit or break a condition which applies to your account.
For example, if it would mean that you’d take out more cash in a day than you’re allowed to from a cash machine or the balance of your account would go below zero. When we work out whether you might go over a limit or break a condition which applies to your account, we’ll look at how much money you have in your account to see if:
(i) you’ve used your card to take out money from a cash machine or to make a payment and the amount hasn’t been taken out of your account yet, or (ii) there’s any other money which needs to be paid into your account or taken
out of your account.
12 If we’ve refused your instruction to make a payment and this payment would have been a payment within the EEA, we’ll tell you by the end of the following working day that it has been refused. If you used your card to make a payment or cash withdrawal, the person you tried to buy something from or the person who owns the cash machine you tried to withdraw cash from, will tell you that the payment has been refused. For other payments we’ll tell you by showing the payment which we haven’t allowed on your statement as a credit and debit on the same day. You can get copies of your monthly statement through the Internet Bank or Mobile Banking app. You can also request mini and real time statements from one of our cash machines. We won’t tell you about this refusal if we think that by doing that, your account might no longer be secure or it would be against the law for us to tell you.
13 You can find out about the payment we‘ve refused and if possible, the reasons why we haven’t allowed it by calling us on 0800 30 20 11. If you call us, we’ll also tell you what you need to do so that we can allow you to take money out or pay money into your account.
Taking care of the money in your account
In addition to the terms below there’s more important information later in this document about how to protect the money in your account.
14 To take care of the money in your FlexOne account, please make sure that you do the following:
always do what you can to keep your card safe and your PIN secret. You shouldn’t tell anyone your PIN, not even our staff or the police
we’ll send you your PIN and your Internet Banking passcode in separate letters. When you receive them, you should memorise them and then destroy the tabs they are on as soon as possible store your statements (if you receive them in the post) and customer number in a safe place.
15 You must let us know as soon as you can by telling us in branch or by calling us 24 hours a day on 0800 30 20 11 (+44 1793 65 67 89 if you’re calling from abroad), if:
your card is lost or you think it might have been stolen you think someone else knows your PIN
you think someone else might be using your card or PIN without your permission.
16 If you find your card or it’s returned to you after you’ve told us that it’s lost or stolen, you must destroy it straight away.
17 You must follow any other instructions we give you to help you take care of the money in your account.
Statements
18 When you open your account if you don’t give us an email address we’ll send you your monthly statements in the post as well as making them available through Internet Banking. If you do give us an email address you can choose to have your monthly statements made available only through Internet Banking. If you change your mind about how you want to get your monthly statement you can tell us at any time.
19 If you give us an email address and choose to get your statement through Internet Banking, as a courtesy we’ll send you an email telling you when your monthly statement is available.
Money taken out of your account without your permission
Unauthorised transactions
Sometimes there’s money taken out of your account that you may not recognise or didn’t agree to. This sort of transaction is called an ‘unauthorised transaction’.
20 If you see a transaction on your account which you don’t recognise or you weren’t expecting, you can claim a refund from us but you’ll need to contact us as soon as possible and no later than 13 months from when the transaction happened.
Disputed transactions
21 Sometimes you’ll have used your card to make a payment where you didn’t know the exact amount of money that was going to be taken from your account and you don’t agree with the amount of money that has been taken out of your account. This sort of transaction is called a ‘disputed transaction’ and you can claim a refund if it happened in the EEA. An example of this type of transaction is when you use your card to hire a bike and the amount of money which the hire shop takes from your card is different to what you were expecting.
If this happens and you want to get a refund from us, you need to tell us within eight weeks from when the money was taken from your account. You’ll also need to tell us as much as you can about what happened. This is so that we can work out whether you should receive a refund from us.
22 There are some situations where it’s not possible to get a refund for a disputed transaction, these are when:
you agreed to the amount of money being taken from your account
you were told about the amount of money that would be taken out of your account at least four weeks before it was taken out of your account
the amount of money which you think shouldn’t have been taken out of your account
is the result of a change in the exchange rate or charges which you have to pay which are owed to the card scheme provider. A change in the exchange rate might mean that a different amount of money is taken out of your account than you thought because you bought something online in euros and when the amount has been converted into UK pounds, the value of euros has gone up, making it more expensive in UK pounds than it was before.
23 To tell us about an unauthorised or disputed transaction, you should tell us in branch or you can call us 24 hours a day on 0800 30 20 11.
Direct Debits
24 If you think that there has been an incorrect Direct Debit payment out of your account you should tell us immediately so that we can arrange a full and immediate refund if an incorrect payment has been made.
What happens if something goes wrong
25 We’ll be responsible for making sure that money is taken from your account when you use your debit card and when you have set up Direct Debits, unless we can prove that the bank or building society of the organisation you are paying didn’t send us all of the correct details for the payment (e.g. the sort code and account number). If we’re sent the correct details and we make a mistake, we’ll refund you the money and restore your account to the state it would have been in had the payment not been made. We’ll do this unless the mistake was caused by very unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, and the consequences of those circumstances were unavoidable despite us doing everything we could to prevent them.
26 If you ask us to send money to someone else’s bank account you must ensure that you give us the correct details. We’re responsible for making sure that the money reaches that person’s bank account.
If it doesn’t and it’s our fault, we’ll refund the money to you and put your account back into the position it would have been in if you hadn’t asked us to make the payment. We won’t refund the money if we can prove that it has been received by the bank or building society holding the other person’s account or the failure was due to very unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, and the consequences of those circumstances were unavoidable despite us doing everything we could to prevent them.
27 If you give us the wrong account details when you ask us to send money to someone else’s bank account, we’ll try to get the money back for you if you ask us to. The bank or building society of the person who received the money by mistake may charge us for this. If there’s a charge, we’ll tell you how much you’ll need to pay when you ask us to get the money back for you.
Our responsibility for things that happen on your account
28 If we’re responsible for anything that happens because of a delay or error by us when doing something you have asked us to do (e.g. sending money to someone else’s account or stopping a payment), or for any payments which you didn’t give your permission for, our responsibility to you will not be more than the following:
the amount of the payment, and
any interest that you don’t receive or any interest or charges you have to pay.
29 Where you have the right to get a refund we’ll refund the amounts listed above straight away.
30 We’re not responsible for anything that happens because your debit card is not accepted when you try to use it to buy things in a shop, online or on the phone.
31 Unless you have been very careless (this is known as gross negligence) or you haven’t followed the requirements listed above in the section called ‘Taking care of the money in your account’ (page 6) on purpose, the maximum amount you’ll have to pay before you report your card or your PIN as being lost or stolen is £50. If you have acted fraudulently, you’ll be responsible for all losses which might happen as a result.
Changes to these terms and conditions, interest rates and charges
32 We can make changes:
to these terms and conditions
to interest rates where the change is worse for you (if we’re going to pay you less interest) by introducing new charges.
If we make a change, we’ll tell you personally at least two months before we make the change.
If you’re not happy with the change and decide that you don’t want to keep the account anymore, you can take all the money out and close the account. If you don’t close your account then we’ll take that to mean you have accepted the changes.
33 If we make a change to interest rates which is better for you (we’re going to pay you more interest), we’ll make the change straight away. We’ll tell you about it and you can find out the way we’ll do this by looking in the ‘Communication’ section (page 26) of this document.
34 When you reach age 23, we’ll change your FlexOne account to another current account. Generally we will change the account to a FlexDirect current account (or similar account if it’s no longer available). We may change your account to another type of current account if we think you’re not eligible for a FlexDirect account. Once we’ve changed your account the benefits of your FlexOne account will stop. We’ll tell you we’re changing your account before we do this and give you details of any changes to the terms and conditions applicable to your account.
Closing the account
35 Both you and we can choose to close your account. If we choose to close your account we’ll tell you personally at least two months before we close it. If you choose to close the account, you can do this at any time by telling us that this is what you want to do. We can choose to close your account straight away in very unusual situations. An example of what we mean by ‘unusual situations’ would be if the law required us to close your account or if you were threatening towards a member of staff.
36 FlexOne is an account that can only be used by the account holder and it cannot be used for business purposes. You can only have one FlexOne account and you must not let anyone else (including parents or guardians) use your account. If you use your account for business purposes or let anyone else use it then we can close it straight away.
Applicable Law
37 This agreement is governed by English Law and the language we’ll use in our communications will be English. If you want to bring a claim against us in the courts, the courts of England and Wales will be able to deal with any questions relating to this agreement but if you live in another country, you can bring a claim in the courts which are local to you.
If you’re not happy
There’s more important information later in this document about how you can make a complaint.
38 If you are not satisfied with the way we’ve dealt with your complaint you can refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk. Website:
www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. You can also refer your complaint to them first without giving us the opportunity to resolve it, but if you do this, they will only consider your complaint with our consent.
Charitable Assignment
Charitable Assignment
In this charitable assignment section:
‘Society’ means Nationwide Building Society and, if it merges with any other building society, includes such other society, ‘conversion benefits’ means any benefits under the terms of any future transfer of the Society’s business to a company (i.e. on conversion or takeover) except the statutory right to have shares in the Society (including any balances on share accounts) converted into deposits with the company.
THE FOLLOWING WORDING APPLIES TO YOU UNLESS:
YOU WERE A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY ON 2 NOVEMBER 1997 AND HAVE CONTINUED TO BE A MEMBER EVER SINCE THAT DATE, OR
YOU FALL WITHIN A SPECIAL CATEGORY OF PERSONS TO WHOM OUR CHARITABLE ASSIGNMENT SCHEME DOES NOT APPLY.
By applying to open an account after 2 November 1997, you also apply to be a charity member of The Nationwide Foundation (‘the Foundation’) unless you are already a charity member.
You agree that, if:
the account is opened by the Society and you are or become a charity member of the Foundation; and the Society subsequently enters into an agreement to transfer the whole of its business to a company.
You will assign to the Foundation (or any charity(ies) nominated by it, but to no other person) all rights to or in connection with any conversion benefits to which you would otherwise become entitled as a member or depositor at any time before, or within two years, after your membership of the Society comes to an end.
You make this agreement:
with the Society (acting for itself and for the benefit of the Foundation), in return for the Society opening the account you are applying for, and you acknowledge that the Foundation may enforce the benefit of your agreement with the Society under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, and
with the Foundation directly, in return for the Foundation granting you charity membership (if you are not already a member).
This agreement means that, without any further notice to you:
the Society may make over to the Foundation (or to any charity(ies) nominated by it) any such conversion benefits, and
the Foundation may exercise all your rights in relation to any such benefits.
You understand that this agreement is irrevocable and cannot be amended or varied without the consent of both the Society and the Foundation and that neither the Society nor the Foundation will release you from this agreement.
You understand that (except in the case of any class of person where the Society considers this to be inappropriate) the Society will require on behalf of itself and the Foundation that all applicants for share and mortgage accounts agree to the above condition (or a condition having substantially the same effect), unless the Society decides and announces by press release that it is no longer in the best interests of the Society to do so generally on a continuing basis. Any such decision by the Society would not have retrospective effect and you would continue to be bound by the above condition.
How to use your FlexOne account
How to use your FlexOne account
I’ve got a question about payments into my account
The terms and conditions give you key information about paying money into your account. In addition, this section explains how money can be paid into your account: when we receive the money, when it can be withdrawn and when it starts to earn interest.
How can payments be made into my account?
You, your family, friends and organisations (such as your employer if you have a job) can pay money into your account very easily.
Someone’s made a payment directly into my account, when can I take the money out?
In most cases (money paid in by cash or automated payment) you can take the money out immediately.
If you pay cash into your account using one of the cash machines in branch, you might not be able to take the money out until the following working day. That’s because we need to check how much money you’ve paid in before we put it in your account. You’ll earn interest on the money from the date it’s paid in unless you take it out on the same day.
Can foreign currency be paid into my account?
Money can only be paid into your account in UK pounds. If money in a foreign currency is received for payment into your account this will be converted into UK pounds by the bank we use to receive these payments for us. This bank will turn the payment into UK pounds using its exchange rate.
If you’d like more information on foreign payments into your account, please ask in branch or see our Overseas payments leaflet.
Type of payment How?
Automated payments (standing orders, regular payments, bill payments)
Give the person or organisation making the payment your sort code and account number
Cash and cheques Use your FlexOne card at any Nationwide branch based fast cash machine or branch counter
What details do I need to give to someone who wants to make a foreign currency payment into my account?
There are a few pieces of information you should provide to the person sending you the money to ensure a foreign currency payment into your account goes smoothly:
Nationwide’s Bank Identifier Code (BIC) – shown on your statement SWIFT Intermediary Bank – shown on your statement
your International Bank Account Number (IBAN) – shown on your statement your full name.
If the details above are used, we can usually put the money into your account on the day we receive it.
I’ve got a cheque to pay into my account, is there anything I should know?
All cheques go through a 3-step process called ‘clearing’ which normally takes six working days and applies to all banks and building societies. When you pay a cheque into your account, we need to make sure that the person or organisation that has given you the cheque has enough money in their account to pay the amount that’s written on the cheque.
Does the cheque clearing process mean I can’t get my money straight away?
Yes. You won’t be able to take your money out straight away, but we will pay you interest on the money from the day its paid in. We’ll also allow you to take the amount of the cheque out of your account before we’re certain that the person or organisation who gave you the cheque has enough money in their account to pay that amount.
What happens if the person paying me the cheque doesn’t have the money to cover the cheque?
If we find out that the person or organisation who gave you the cheque doesn’t have enough money to pay the amount of the cheque then we’ll have to take the amount of the cheque out of your account. If you have already taken the money out of your account and this happens, your balance may go below zero.
When do I know the money is definitely staying in my account?
At the end of the sixth working day following the day you paid the cheque in. The money will then be ‘cleared for certainty’ which means it’s definitely staying in your account.
The table below explains the cheque clearing process with a couple of examples:
*For interest purposes only we count Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays as working days, if you use a branch or one of our fast cash machines to pay it in. Everything else in example 2 is counted from the following working day.
Does the clearing process change if I use the fast cash machine in branch?
No, the times are the same. If you use deposit envelopes at a cash machine which is not a fast cash machine you’ll need to add a day to the times in the table.
How long have I got to pay in a cheque?
You have six months from when the cheque is dated to pay it into your account. After that, you’ll need to ask the person or organisation that gave you the cheque to give you a new one.
Can I pay in a cheque that has a date in the future on it?
Unfortunately that’s not possible. The date on the cheque you’re paying in must not be a date in the future.
I’ve got a question about payments out of my account
The terms and conditions give you key information about taking money out of your account. In addition, this section explains the ways in which payments can be made out of your account: when they can be made, how you can give us instructions to make a payment and the information we need from you to make a payment and how to stop us making a payment.
How can payments be made out of my account?
There are a number of ways you can do this:
in cash at cash machines or in branch
using your card in shops, online or over the phone including making recurring card payments you can transfer money to other Nationwide accounts. For example, you can transfer money you have in your FlexOne account to a savings account with us, if you have one
you can set up regular payments to pay another person or organisation. You can do this by setting up a standing order or a Direct Debit. If you’ve set up any Direct Debits on your account to pay another person or organisation and that person or organisation’s bank doesn’t take any money from your account for a long time (usually 13 months or more), we can delete the record from your account unless the person or the organisation you’re paying tells us that it shouldn’t be deleted
you can make automated payments to other people’s bank accounts in the UK and abroad you can use counter cheques that you get in branch.
Can I make a payment out of my account in foreign currency?
Money can only be paid out of your account in UK pounds. If you want to make a payment out in a foreign currency we’ll take the money out of your account in UK pounds and the bank we use to make the payment will turn the UK pounds amount into the foreign currency using an agreed exchange rate.
If you’d like more information on making foreign payments out of your account please ask in branch or see our Overseas payments leaflet (ignore the fees referred to in this leaflet as your FlexOne account is fee-free you won’t have to pay these).
Do I keep any money that’s paid into my account by mistake?
No, if the money isn’t yours to keep it must be repaid.
I haven’t got enough money in my account to make a payment, can I do it anyway?
No, you should try and avoid making payments out of your account if you don’t have enough money to cover it. Before you’re 18 you’ll generally not be allowed to take more money out of your account or spend more money on your card than you have in your account.
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Interest is paid from Withdrawals are allowed from
You’ll know whether the money is cleared and staying in your account from Cheques paid into
your FlexOne account in branch
the day you pay it in the start of the fourth working day following the day you pay it in
the end (11:59pm) of the sixth working day following the day you pay it in Example 1: Cheque
paid in on a Monday
Monday Friday Tuesday of the
following week Example 2: Cheque
paid in on a Saturday
Saturday Friday Tuesday of the
following week
How to make a payment out of my account
Automated payments
Payment type
When you can tell us what you want us to do
When the money arrives in the bank account of the person you’re sending the money to
How to stop us from sending the money if you change your mind Internet
Bank
Mobile app
Branch
Internal transfers to Nationwide accounts
24 hours a day
24 hours a day*
During opening hours
Immediately You can’t normally stop a payment after we’ve accepted your instructions
Internal transfers to Nationwide accounts (future payments)
24 hours a day
24 hours a day*
– Requested date You can ask us not to send the payment up to 4.00pm the working day before the money is due to be taken
Immediate bill payments (a payment to someone else’s bank account)
24 hours a day
24 hours a day*
– Within one
working day**
You can’t normally stop a payment after we’ve accepted your instructions
Bill payments to be sent in the future
24 hours a day
– – Within the
working day of the requested date
You can ask us not to send the payment up to 4.00pm the working day before the money is due to be taken Standing
orders
24 hours a day
– During
opening hours **
Within the working day of the requested date
You can ask us not to send the payment up to 4.00pm the working day before the money is due to be taken Direct Debits You must complete an
instruction form with the organisation you’re paying.
We’ll make payments on working days only. Payments due to be made on a weekend or bank holiday will be sent the following working day
The date you’ve agreed with the organisation you’re paying
You can ask us not to send the payment up to 6.00pm the working day before the money is due to be taken. You should also contact the organisation you’re paying if you want to cancel the payment
I want to pay money to someone, what information do I need to give Nationwide?
It depends on whether the payment is going to the UK or abroad. The table below explains the information that you’ll need to provide.
What happens if I make a mistake and give Nationwide the wrong information?
If this happens then the payment may be delayed or not even received and we may not be able to get it back for you. For that reason it’s very important that you are accurate when giving us instructions to send a payment, including quoting the correct sort code and account number of the person you’re making the payment to. If you know you’ve made a mistake please contact us.
There are lots of different payments I can make out of my account, how and when can I tell Nationwide I want to make these payments, when will the money arrive, and how can I stop the payment?
The ‘How to make a payment out of my account’ table opposite tells you how and when you can give us instructions to make different types of payments, when the person you are sending the money to will get the money and how you can stop us sending the money if you change your mind.
Information Payment in the UK Payment abroad
Sort code Yes Yes
Account number Yes Yes
Reference/roll number/invoice number Yes Yes
Name of the bank or building society No Yes
Address of the bank or building society No Yes
Bank Identifier Code (BIC) or national bank code No Yes
International Bank Account Number (IBAN) No Yes (if the bank account you want to send money to is in the EEA)
* Only to someone you’ve already set up through Internet Banking as a person you want to make payments to ** If you ask us to send the payment after 6.30pm, we’ll process it the following working day
FlexOne card
CHAPS and overseas automated payments
Payment type When you can tell us what you want us to do
When the money arrives in the bank account of the person you’re sending the money to
How to stop us from sending the money if you change your mind Internet
Bank
Mobile app
Branch
CHAPS – payments within the UK for large amounts of money which you need to make on the same day
24 hours a day
N/A During
opening hours***
The same working day**
You can’t normally stop a payment after we’ve accepted your instruction
Overseas automated payments – payments outside the UK
24 hours a day
N/A During
opening hours
Normally one working day for EEA countries.
For other countries, it may take longer
You can’t normally stop a payment after we’ve accepted your instruction Payment
type
How you can use your debit card
When the money will arrive in the bank account of the person you are sending the money to
How to stop us from sending the money if you change your mind
Purchases You can use your debit card in shops, online or over the phone
The money will be taken out of your account on the day we receive the request from the retailer’s bank and they’ll receive it within three working days
You can’t stop a card payment but the retailer may give you a refund. If you want to stop a recurring card payment on your FlexOne debit or cash card that you’ve set up using your card details, you’ll need to tell us by 4.00pm the working day before the money is due to be taken. We recommend that you also contact the person or organisation you are paying to cancel the payment
* Only to someone you’ve already set up through Internet Banking as a person you want to make payments to ** If you ask us to send the payment after 6.30pm, we’ll process it the following working day
*** If you want the money to arrive the same working day, you must tell us what you want us to do by 1.00pm on that working day. Payments are made on working days only. Payments due to be made on a weekend or bank holiday will be sent on the following working day
When I make a payment does the money always leave my account immediately?
In most cases it does, but if you use your debit card to buy things there might be a short time between when you make your purchase and when the amount of money is taken out of your account. During this time, your account balance will include the amount of money you’ve spent but it won’t be available to you.
If I get a refund on my debit card when will the money be back in my account?
We’ll be able to pay the refund into your account when we receive it.
Am I always responsible for the payments out of my account?
There are some occasions when you’ll still be responsible for making a payment even if we’re unable to make that payment for you because:
you’ve closed the account, or either
– there’s something wrong with our machines, data processing systems or transmission links we need to use to send the money, or
– there’s an industrial action (e.g. where staff are on strike), or – something else has happened
and in each case, we (or anyone else who does things for us) have no control over what has happened.
Can I spend more money than is in my FlexOne account?
Usually a payment cannot be made out of your account if you don’t have enough money in your account to make that payment. However, there’s a very small chance that a payment could be made when you don’t have enough money which means your balance could go below zero. If this does happen, there’s nothing to worry about. We won’t charge you anything at all. But we might contact you to let you know it has happened and how you can avoid it in future.
You won’t be able to spend any more money or take money out of a cash machine until your balance is brought back above zero.
How can I manage my money to make sure I always know what I have left in my FlexOne account?
There are multiple ways to keep track of your balance:
Of course, all these services are free to use.
How to get started
Internet Bank Activate online (you’ll be registered when you open your account) Mobile Banking app Download the app
Text Alerts Sign up using your Internet Bank or in branch
I’ve closed my account and I think there are still payments that need to go out, what will happen?
By closing your account you’re withdrawing your consent from Nationwide to make any future Direct Debits or recurring card payments on your account. If there’s any other payment which is due to be made from your account within five working days of you telling us that you want to close your account, we’ll still make that payment unless you tell us that you don’t want us to. The amount of time that you need to give us to cancel the payment is shown in the ‘How to make a payment out of my account’ tables (pages 19 and 20).
Any responsibility you have to pay us any money you owe us (such as the payment of money owed on card purchases or where the balance on your account has fallen below zero), will continue until you’ve paid all of the money to us.
I’ve got a question about debit cards and cash cards
The terms and conditions contain some key information about the use of your card.
This section gives you further information about what you can use your card for and some things that happen when you use it.
Where can I use my FlexOne card?
That depends on the type of card you have:
Can I change the type of card I have?
Until you turn 17 years and 6 months old you can change your cash card to a debit card and vice versa at any time by contacting us. When you’re 18, if you have a cash card you’ll automatically be issued with a new debit card and you’ll only be able to use a debit card from then on for as long as you keep your FlexOne account.
How can I keep my card details secure when shopping online?
There are a couple of ways you can do this. From time to time you may be asked to validate yourself as the cardholder when shopping online. Alternatively our card scheme provider may ask you if you want to register for our digital wallet.
If I spend money in a foreign currency, how is the value of the payment worked out in UK pounds?
The card scheme provider uses its exchange rate to turn the amount you’ve spent in foreign currency into UK pounds. The date of the payment which will appear on the statement for one of these payments will be the day that the payment is turned into UK pounds by the card scheme provider. This might not be the same day as the day you used your card.
If I’m abroad can I pay in UK pounds?
Sometimes you’ll be offered the ability to pay in UK pounds when using your card for a transaction you do outside of the UK. The person offering this service (not Nationwide) may charge a fee and use their own exchange rate to convert your transaction into pounds.
Is there anything I should do when I get a replacement card?
There’s one very important thing. You’ll need to tell any organisations you gave your old card number to about the new card number and/or expiry date so they can continue to collect recurring card payments.
I know FlexOne is a fee-free account, but can other providers charge me for using cash machines?
Occasionally when you use a cash machine the machine provider may make cash withdrawal charges over which we have no control. Make sure you read all the on-screen instructions carefully when using non-Nationwide cash machines.
What does having a Contactless card mean?
It’s just another way of making payments using your card. If you have a debit card with this symbol on it, you can make payments in seconds wherever you see it without needing to enter your PIN or sign a receipt, at no extra cost. But, for your security sometimes you’ll be asked to enter your PIN or sign.
How do I activate Contactless?
Contactless is activated the first time you use your debit card to make a payment using your PIN or signature or make a withdrawal at a cash machine.
How much can I spend on Contactless?
Contactless makes it quicker to make low value purchases up to certain limits. You should make sure that you’ve enough money in your account before using your Contactless card as some shops and other organisations won’t automatically ask us to check the amount of money in your account before you make a payment, and this could lead to your account going below zero. Details on where you can use your Contactless card and the limits on payments you make when you use it are on our website at nationwide.co.uk/contactless
Debit card Cash card
Cash can be taken out at any cash machine Yes Yes
Make Contactless payments Yes No
Pay for things in shops, online and over the phone Yes No
Daily cash machine withdrawal limit £300 £300
Do I pay income tax on my interest?
If your income is below a certain limit and you are a UK resident, you can register for gross interest but unless you, your parent or guardian has filled in an HM Revenue & Customs R85 form for your account, you’ll have to pay tax on the interest. If you have to pay tax on the interest we’ll take this off your interest before we pay it into your account.
If you have to pay income tax at the higher rate, you’ll have to pay the extra amount of tax to HM Revenue & Customs (over and above the basic rate of tax we’ll deduct). You can find out if you have to pay income tax and how much by calling HM Revenue & Customs or looking on their website.
How can I register to not pay tax on the interest?
Your R85 form needs to be completed (by you, your parent or guardian) and we need to receive it in order to pay your interest gross (without basic rate tax deducted). Your parent or guardian will need to sign the R85 form if you’re under 16. You can get an R85 form by popping in to branch or visiting nationwide.co.uk
How can I keep the money in my account safe?
The terms and conditions set out a lot of important information about how to keep the money in your account safe. This section gives you more information on how to do that.
What should I do if I don’t receive something that I’m expecting you to send me?
You should let us know straight away if you don’t receive a statement or anything else you were expecting (such as a replacement card or PIN).
What should I do if I see a transaction I don’t recognise on my FlexOne account?
You should check your statements regularly and tell us straight away if there’s anything on your statement which you weren’t expecting or you don’t recognise.
If I use Internet and/or Mobile Banking do I have to keep my devices updated?
If you use the Internet Bank or Mobile Banking, you need to make sure that your device is set up correctly and has the right hardware, operating system and browser. You should also follow any instructions we give you (e.g. in the terms and conditions for Internet Banking or Mobile Banking), about how to protect the money in your account by looking after your security details.
Will a cash machine ever keep my card?
It’s unlikely, but it can happen. If you use your card to take money out of a cash machine and put your PIN in incorrectly a number of times, the cash machine might keep your card. This might also happen if there’s a technical problem with the cash machine. Unfortunately, we can’t be held responsible if this happens.
Can I always use Contactless?
It’s not always possible to use Contactless. There may be terms and conditions imposed on you by the shop or other organisation where you’re using your card which we can’t control. This might mean that you can’t use your Contactless card if a shop or other organisation doesn’t offer it, or the shop may require you to use your PIN.
I’ve got a question about interest on my FlexOne account
The terms and conditions tell you when we pay interest on the money in your account. This section gives you more information about how you can find out the interest rate and when we can change the interest rate, the balance on which we pay interest, and if we pay interest with or without deducting income tax.
Do I get credit interest on all the money in my FlexOne account?
It depends on how much money you have in your account. We’ll only pay interest up to a set maximum balance which can be found in our Current Accounts – Interest Rates and Charges leaflet.
Why do interest rates change?
We might change interest rates for one or more of the following reasons:
to reflect changes in general interest rates, including the interest rates or terms on which similar accounts are offered by other providers of financial services (such as other banks and building societies) to reflect any changes or anticipated changes in law, regulations or codes of practice or to respond to a decision by a court, ombudsman or regulator
to reflect changes to our costs, including administrative costs, costs involved in providing services or facilities or changes in the costs to us of borrowing money
to reflect any changes in our ownership or re-organisation due to a merger or acquisition (if we buy or are bought by another organisation)
to maintain our financial strength for the benefit of all of our members.
Will you tell me if the interest rate on my FlexOne account is going to change?
We’ll let you know when the interest rate is changing. How and when we do this is set out in the terms and conditions.
My personal details have changed, should I tell you?
You must tell us straight away if you change your personal details, the table below explains how you can do this:
Will you ever ask me to provide information to you in order to keep my account safe?
If we’ve taken action against someone else because of something that has happened on your account, you must help us and provide us with all the information we reasonably ask for. However, you should never tell anyone (including our representatives) your Internet Banking security data (such as your customer number and passnumber) or your PIN.
Communication
In some places in the terms and conditions we say we’ll contact you, for example when we change interest rates. This section gives you some more information about how we’ll contact you.
How will you contact me?
When we want to tell you about something, we’ll do it in one or more of the following ways:
In order to receive and see messages using email and on the Internet Bank you must make sure that your device is set up correctly and has the right hardware, operating system and browser.
What does Nationwide do with my personal information?
How will Nationwide use my personal information?
We will share information about you and your account within Nationwide so that we can better look after you and your account. We may also share information with other organisations in certain circumstances.
When you turn 18 we will begin sharing information about you and how you run your account with credit reference agencies.
It is important you understand how the personal information you give us will be used. So we strongly advise that you read our guide about how we use your personal information. You can find this in our How Nationwide uses your personal information leaflet available on our website or you can ask for a copy in branch.
We may also contact you to inform you of special offers, products and services which might be of interest to you, either by letter, telephone or email. If you do not wish to receive this information by letter, telephone or email, or any combination of these, you can write to us at Nationwide Building Society, Marketing Opt-out, FREEPOST SCE 7125, Swindon, SN38 9LY. If you are an existing customer and have already opted out of marketing communications you do not need to write to us again.
From time to time we’ll look at the way you use your account so that we can see how you look after your money. We do this so that we can decide whether it would be right for us to let you have an overdraft on your account after you have reached the age of 18. There may also be other services and products we can offer you in the future depending on how you have looked after your money.
Personal messages for you Messages that all our customers can see Writing to you (email, letter or text) Displays in branch
Phoning you Displays on our website
In person (in branch) Advertising in the press
Secure message or notice in the Internet Bank
Any other way that’s reasonable and appropriate at the time
Branch Internet Bank Over the phone
Name Yes No No
Address Yes Yes No
Telephone number Yes Yes Yes
Email address Yes Yes Yes
Complaints
If I’m not happy with something that happens on my account, how can I make a complaint?
We have a complaints procedure to help with your complaint. For more information, or to make a complaint, please:
visit our website and click on the option ‘Contact us’ at nationwide.co.uk call 0800 30 20 15 or
talk to us in branch.
If I’m not happy with the way you deal with my complaint, what can I do?
If you are not happy with the way we’ve dealt with your complaint, you can refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, or if we agree, you can refer your complaint to them first, without giving us the opportunity to resolve it for you. The Financial Ombudsman Service provides a free, independent, complaint resolution service. You can contact them at Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR. Tel: 0300 123 9123 or 0800 023 4567. E-mail: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk. Details about their service and how to refer a complaint to them can be found on their website at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Glossary
Glossary
Automated payment
Payments made into or out of your account via electronic banking systems.
This includes Direct Debits, standing orders, bill payments, CHAPS and international payments.
Bill payment A way to make free payments within the UK 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Bill payments can be made through the Internet Bank, Mobile Banking, a cash machine or in branch. They can also be known as single payments.
Card scheme provider
The company we use to provide us with the payments systems to enable you to use your card i.e. purchase in shops, make a cash machine withdrawal.
Direct Debit When you ask another person or organisation to take money out of your account with us. Direct Debits are often used to pay for things like magazine subscriptions or gym or club membership.
EEA The European Economic Area and the countries in the EEA are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Exchange rate The rate used to convert a payment to or from your account in a foreign currency to UK pounds (e.g. to calculate how many euros is equal to one pound).
The exchange rate will follow the card scheme provider’s reference rate.
You can find out what the exchange rate is by contacting us. The exchange rate is also shown on your statement.
Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
The Financial Ombudsman Service was established in 2001 and helps settle disputes between consumers and UK-based businesses providing financial services, such as banks, building societies and insurance companies.
Fraudulent Where someone (which could be you or another person) is trying to deceive us.
Income tax Income tax is a tax you pay on money you earn. This might be money you earn from a job or the interest you receive on money you have in your accounts.
Interest The extra money we’ll pay into your account if you have money in your account.
Overdraft An overdraft is when you are allowed to take out more money than you have in your account and your balance falls below zero.
PIN Personal Identification Number. It’s a four digit number that you need to remember to use when you use your cash or debit card at cash machines or your debit card to buy things in shops.
Recurring card payment
When you ask another person or organisation to take money from your FlexOne card whenever you owe them money.
Regulator An organisation that supervises financial institutions to ensure certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines are followed, aiming to maintain the integrity of the financial system and provide the best outcome for customers. We’re subject to the requirements of a number of regulators such as the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Lending Standards Board and the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Standing order When you ask us to pay a set amount of money at regular intervals (e.g. weekly or monthly) to someone else’s bank account or when someone else pays a set amount of money at regular intervals into your account.
Statement A record of what has been paid into and out of your account. We’ll send or make available to you monthly statements. You can get copies of your monthly statements through the Internet Bank or Mobile Banking app and you can request mini and real-time statements from one of our cash machines.
Transfer When you ask us to pay money into someone’s account, or someone pays money into your account.
Working day Any day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or a Bank Holiday.
