Christmas came early for around 3.4mln Nationwide customers after the building society pledged to put £100 into their bank accounts next month to help them battle the cost of living crisis.
But is the move a gimic to steer headlines away from bonanza profits, a blow to savers looking for better rates or a welcome move which others companies should follow?
“We can do this because we’re a building society, not a bank, and our profit is reinvested for our members’ benefit,” Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive, Nationwide Building Society, said.
Nationwide's mutual status means it is run for the benefit of its members, that is anyone with a Nationwide product.
Traditionally, building socities have passed the benefits of higher profits through better savings and lower mortgage rates.
But Crosbie obviously thought it was time for a change highlighting the day to day pressures faced by consumers.
“We don’t see anyone else doing this, as such, and we think, in the cost of living crisis, it was really important to get people cash where we could, and we think it will have the most impact," she said.
The payout will be paid to elegible members in June.
So who will get the cash?
To get the £100 payment, Nationwide members must have either a current account and savings product, or a current account and mortgage product. The building society said these are its criteria:
Current account: To be a qualifying current account, your account must have been open on 31 March 2023. Qualifying members must still have a current account in June.
Savings: You will have had qualifying savings if you had at least £100 in total in one or more personal savings accounts or cash Isas with Nationwide at the end of any day in March 2023.
Mortgage: To be a qualifying mortgage, you must owe us at least £100 on your Nationwide residential mortgage on 31 March 2023.
The £340mln windfall was accompanied by the launch of a fixed two-year bond (Nationwide Fairer Share Bond) at 4.75% as Crosbie pledged to “reward our savings customers with the highest savings rates we can.”
The payout represented a 15% chunk of the £2.23bn profit Nationwide reported as the lender continued to benefit from rising interest rates.
Not overly generous, but welcome nonetheless, and prudent in these uncertain times alhough the lender was quick to stress "credit quality of our lending portfolios remains strong with low levels of arrears."
Chair Kevin Parry signalled Nationwide is looking to make it an annual event.
“The Board intends to declare annual distributions provided they would not be detrimental to the financial strength of the Society,” he said.
There may be quibbles whether this money could have been better spent but savers elsewhere will look on in envy as Nationwide customers get an extra £100 in their back pockets next month.
As account holders in Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest watch shareholders being rewarded with bumper dividends and buybacks year in, year out and savings rates stall, perhaps it's time for other financial institutions to take a leaf out of the Nationwide's book and look after those, who after all, keep those bumper profits flowing.