Nationwide Building Society has improved the process for new and existing members opening a savings account by now “allowing them to fund the account straight away as part of the application process.”
Previously members would have to wait a few days “until the account was fully opened before they could transfer the money needed to meet the account funding requirements.” Each month, this led to around eight per cent of accounts “being closed as members would simply forget to credit the account1.”
This use of the latest technology will “help members make more of their money as with the funds being paid into the account from day one, members will start earning interest straight away at the new, likely higher, rate of interest.”
Using agile practices, the team was able “to define the requirements and launch the new service in a quicker time than ever before.” The new process, which has been developed in conjunction with Moneyhub, the open data, intelligence and payments platform, “uses its open banking payment initiation service (PIS) technology to connect savers directly to their current account or savings account held elsewhere in order to sweep the money.”
Existing Nationwide members can already “fund most of their accounts straight away using the internal payment transfer process.”
Initially the new process will be “available for Fixed Rate Online Bonds, before being rolled out to other savings products in future.”
Daniel King, Chief Digital Product Owner at Nationwide Building Society said:
“We all lead increasingly busy lives, so it’s easy to see why so many people forget to go back and fund their new savings account after it’s been opened. By partnering with Moneyhub and using Open Banking technology we are able to streamline the process and in doing so allow our members to start earning a higher rate of interest on their money right from day one.”
Dan Scholey, CCO, at Moneyhub said:
“Open Banking enables frictionless payments, easy connections and endless possibilities for consumers and providers of financial services. By using Open Banking technology, we can give Nationwide members the ability to seamlessly sweep their money to where it can work the hardest to ultimately improve their long-term financial wellness.”
After witnessing Moneyhub’s Open Finance capabilities up close, Nationwide “invested in the fintech as a minority stakeholder.”
