Exact date millions of Nationwide customers will get free £50 cash payment

Millions of Nationwide customers will receive a £50 "thank you" payment within days. The building society is set to pay out more than £600million to over 12 million of its members following its successful takeover of .

has confirmed the "thank you" payment will be made from April 9 - but not every customer is eligible for it. The money will be paid to anyone who had a or current account, or , at the end of last September, and you must also have made at least one transaction through your current account or savings, or had a balance of at least £100 in your current account, savings or mortgage, in the 12 months to the end of September 2024.

The payment will be made automatically by April 30 - so you should not need to contact Nationwide to receive it. If Nationwide can't pay the money into your current account, you may be sent a cheque in the post. Cheques will be sent by May 14 and must be paid in before January 2026.

Nationwide has already written to eligible members to alert them about the payment. It comes after Nationwide completed its . The acquisition was approved by a judge at a specialist court after 90% of Virgin Money shareholders backed the scheme at a vote early last year.

The "thank you" payment is separate to the £100 "Fairer Share" payment that the building society has paid out to members over the last two years. This is based on its financial performance, with Nationwide set to confirm its next set of results on May 29 this year. The building society will confirm if another round of "Fairer Share" payments will be made on this date.

Last year, a total of £385million was paid out in June to 3.85 million customers after the building society announced profits of £2billion. You also had to meet certain eligibility criteria in order to receive this payment, which will likely be a similar case this year. Last year, needed to have a current account that opened on or before March 31, 2024.

FlexAccount, FlexBasic and FlexDirect account holders needed to have paid in at least £500 and made two payments in two of the first three months of the year, or made at least ten payments out of the account. FlexOne, FlexGraduate, FlexStudent account holders needed to have made a payment in or out of the account in March 2024.

FlexPlus packaged accounts were also eligible and the only criteria was that you had to have paid the account fee. You also needed to have a savings account or mortgage with Nationwide. The savings account must have had at least £100 in it, or you must have owed at least £100 on a mortgage with Nationwide.

Last year, Nationwide paid its Fairer Share bonus between June 13 and June 28. Debbie Crosbie, Nationwide CEO, said: “Nationwide became even stronger when it bought Virgin Money and we are already improving services for its customers.

“The Big Nationwide Thank You recognises the role our members played in building the financial strength that made the deal possible. It’s another of the very real benefits of being a member of Nationwide and our modern mutual model.”

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