Nationwide marketing director Chris Rhodes, acting as spokesperson for the changes, has really annoyed me with his pontifications on the issue. He says:
"Of the 1.4 million customers who use the card abroad, two-thirds do not pay their salary or pension into the account".
But you had no rule to say that they should. And now you are not actually proposing that the benefits will be available to those who pay in their salary. You are removing them entirely (you say - perhaps you may change your mind).
"There is no doubt customers cherry-picked FlexAccount for its attractive overseas terms ... They had more than their fair share of rewards for being with the society".
Now I really like this. A director of a High Street bank (let's not take all this "Society" talk too seriously) lectures me on moral philosophy; as if a banker is a leading expert on fairness. Bit rich that isn't it.
It seems a rather strange business decision to me to alienate 1.4 million of your customers by taking away one of the prime benefits of holding a FlexAccount - and the reason why many of us joined Nationwide in the first place. This is especially so since, according to Rhodes, the average cost of the service for customers taking their card overseas is £12 - hardly saving Nationwide a fortune (that looks odd to me but that is what he says). But in the realm of making strange business decisions I do accept that bankers are experts.
Quotes from Guardian.
P.S. Last year the executive directors of Nationwide recived a remuneration increase (salary, bonuses, pension benefits) of 25%. So they are certainly getting their share of rewards. Fair? You judge.