Simon Lambert

We rely on those, you know, investors lending us money in order to keep the country afloat.

And we do need to probably listen to that, I would say.

And it's, you know, we talk about the stock market as being a weighing machine, right, between buyers and sellers.

It decides the price.

But sometimes the bond market is a weighing machine as well.

The bond market is often a weighing machine for policy or things like that.

And I think, you know, we should probably listen to what the weighing machine is telling us.

This is probably one of the most successful loyalty things to come out of a building society or a bank in recent years.

The fourth year in a row, Nationwide will be making their share bonus payments.

Now, in order to qualify, you need to have a qualifying current account open on the 31st of March 2026, combined with at least £100 in savings or a minimum of £100 owed on a mortgage on the same date.

First time this came out, there were some people who were happy because, for example, they were long-term nationwide savers, didn't have a current account, or their current account didn't qualify because they hadn't made the requisite amount of transactions, which is only a couple of months, or they didn't have the money, or they did have a current account, they didn't have the money in savings.

It is now the fourth occasion and we have written countless stories reminding people what they need to do to get their fairer share bonus over the months in which they needed to do it to qualify.

So I think we have now reached the point where people who aren't getting the fairer share, I think they need to accept that it's probably on them now.

OK, but it's great that Nationwide is giving out this money.

And I say that as someone who got an email from Nationwide this morning telling me I was getting £100.

But it has proved hugely popular.

The difficulty is now people expect it every year.

So, I mean, could they take it away?

Could they not do it?

Also, the £100 hasn't been adjusted for inflation since it started.