
Encouraging more people to bank with us
Banking is core to our purpose and helps us build deeper,
lifelong relationships with our customers.
Overall, we opened 761,000 (2023: 679,000) new
current accounts, whilst achieving more net gains in
current account switches than any other brand
13
. This
was supported by our marketleading current account
switcher incentive, which ran between September and
December 2023 and offered £200 cashback to those
who switched to us
14
. Overall, we held almost one in ten
current accounts (2023: one in ten)
15
.
Alongside the launch of our current account switcher
incentive, we launched a topofthemarket Flex
Regular Saver, that had an interest rate of 8%. These
propositions demonstrate our commitment to building
more rewarding relationships with our customers and to
delivering the best value in UK banking.
Supporting those who save with us
We want to encourage good savings habits, as this can
provide customers with financial security in the long
term. We offered a competitive range of products over
the year, including our Flex Regular Saver, Nationwide
Fairer Share Bond and FlexOne Saver. We also made
saving easier through our banking app, with Impulse
Saver and Round Up tools, and Savings Goals. And
we continued to inform customers signed up to our
SavingsWatch service of our latest, and best, savings
rates and products.
Over the year, customer deposits increased by £6.3
billion (2023: £9.1 billion), supported by our competitive
fixedrate products and increased levels of accrued and
capitalised interest due to higher average savings rates.
Our market share of deposit balances reduced slightly to
9.5% (2023: 9.6%).
We also reentered the young savers market, launching
our FlexOne Saver for 11 to 17 year olds. Our FlexOne
Saver is available to our FlexOne current account
customers, offering an interest rate of 5% during the
year and no restrictions on withdrawals. It represents
one of our first key deliveries in improving our offering
for our younger customers, and we plan to broaden our
range further over time to meet a wider range of needs.
Helping people into homes
We were founded to help people into homes of their
own, and this remains important to our strategy today.
Our share of total mortgage balances increased to 12.3%
(2023: 12.2%), in a competitive market with subdued
growth. Net lending was £2.6 billion (2023: £3.3 billion),
supported by our continued focus on retention through
highly competitive products provided to existing
customers.
Our existing mortgage customers have access to rates
that are at least as good as those for new customers
remortgaging to us. We were proud to be awarded Best
Fixed Rate Mortgage Provider at the Moneyfacts Awards
2023.
We also made it easier for our customers to stay on top
of their mortgage payments with our online Mortgage
Manager service, where they could switch product or
extend their mortgage term to reduce their borrowing
costs.
We signed up to the Government’s Mortgage Charter,
reinforcing our support for our mortgage customers,
and providing them with options for reducing payments
without impacting their credit score. We continued
to offer a range of tailored options to our customers
through our specialist support team.
We helped 64,000 (2023: 72,000) first time buyers
into a home of their own. Our Helping Hand mortgage
supported affordability, enabling first time buyers to
borrow more (up to 5.5 times their salary) on 5 and
10year fixed rate mortgages. It also extends to 95%
loan to value, reducing the pressure on first time buyers
of saving for a larger deposit, and we offered £500
cashback to support them further. We continued to
lend responsibly, with robust underwriting checks, but
without relying on the Government’s 95% mortgage
guarantee scheme.
The buy to let market was smaller overall, as higher
interest rates impacted landlords’ affordability and
profitability, limiting their ability to expand portfolios
or raise capital. The gross lending market share of our
buy to let subsidiary, The Mortgage Works, increased
slightly to 11.2% (2023: 10.7%
16
) as we continued to
balance our new lending volumes and pricing to preserve
an appropriate level of interest margin in a challenging
market.
We continued to enable our landlords to switch
mortgage products up to 13 weeks ahead of maturity
and offered competitive rates for existing landlords
switching products. We introduced new fee options
that offered more choice for landlords, including those
looking for larger loan sizes. In addition, we improved
our affordability and lending criteria, making us more
competitive and able to support more landlords.
Over the year, we also increased our lending to social
housing, both through new lending and the refinancing
of existing facilities, demonstrating our support for this
important sector.
Chief Executive review (continued)
13. Pay.UK quarterly Current Account Switch Service data, 9 months to December 2023, based on the latest available data.
14. To earn the £200 cashback, customers must have completed a full switch to us, from a current account held with another provider, using the Current Account Switch Service.
15. CAC’s Current Account and Savings Database, Stock (February 2024 and February 2023).
16. Comparative has been restated to reflect updates to UK Finance total industry lending data.
16
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