Nationwide for Dummies

[5-element]

OK I give in, I am beaten and would appreciate a little help.

I have a Nationwide Flexaccount, fed regularly, and a debit card, which I have used regularly to withdraw cash.

I would like to move most of the amount on my Nationwide Flexaccount, onto my French bank account. I have never done this, and am now quite flummaxed by the whole process.

Rang Nationwide, they advised me to bank online It seems I managed to do that, and after a 10-day delay, received confirmation by mail that this was done, as well as a "Getting Started - Internet Banking - user guide" - and all my security data.

My intention was to then try and , enter online on a SWIFT form, the amount, bank accounts, etc... that I want transferred.

Now it seems that I also need a "CARD READER" - which was not sent to me!

I have tried to order one online, but have not even managed to do that. If I did manage, and received one (by mail I presume?) then what? I didn't even know if "card reader" is the same as the debit card I usually use...

Not only I am very unused (and fairly incompetent) to doing anything online, but I also have get into a cold sweat when I have to manage any financial matter. Is there a kind soul who could point me in the right direction, as to what am I supposed to do next, or is there an easier way?

 

I had thought an easier way was to ring up my Nationwide Branch in the UK, but have not managed that (no answer, I fear everything is automated now and it might be virtually impossible to speak to a human being).

And finally, if I did manage to get a SWIFT form, do I also need to go through a broker or other, intermediary financial company??

I am very confused, and defeated... [:'(]

[Pickles]

[quote user="5-element"]OK I give in, I am beaten and would appreciate a little help.

I have a Nationwide Flexaccount, fed regularly, and a debit card, which I have used regularly to withdraw cash.

I would like to move most of the amount on my Nationwide Flexaccount, onto my French bank account. I have never done this, and am now quite flummaxed by the whole process.

Rang Nationwide, they advised me to bank online It seems I managed to do that, and after a 10-day delay, received confirmation by mail that this was done, as well as a "Getting Started - Internet Banking - user guide" - and all my security data.

My intention was to then try and , enter online on a SWIFT form, the amount, bank accounts, etc... that I want transferred.

Now it seems that I also need a "CARD READER" - which was not sent to me!

I have tried to order one online, but have not even managed to do that. If I did manage, and received one (by mail I presume?) then what? I didn't even know if "card reader" is the same as the debit card I usually use...

Not only I am very unused (and fairly incompetent) to doing anything online, but I also have get into a cold sweat when I have to manage any financial matter. Is there a kind soul who could point me in the right direction, as to what am I supposed to do next, or is there an easier way?

 

I had thought an easier way was to ring up my Nationwide Branch in the UK, but have not managed that (no answer, I fear everything is automated now and it might be virtually impossible to speak to a human being).

And finally, if I did manage to get a SWIFT form, do I also need to go through a broker or other, intermediary financial company??

I am very confused, and defeated... [:'(][/quote]

The card reader can be ordered by clicking on the "my accounts" tab, then clicking on the "other services" tab on the RHS, then clicking on "order another card reader".

The card reader is a little box with a small screen and numeric keypad into which you insert the card when instructed to. You need to then key in your PIN to the card reader and whatever additional code is given to you by the Nationwide website, which will then cause the card reader to generate a code, which you then put into the web page where required. The card reader is simply another level of security which is required for tranactions on the Nationwide website. It's a GOOD thing.

Bear in mind that Swift transfers cost £20 ...

Edited to add: I have just checked up and the ONLY way to do a European transfer from a Nationwide account is via a £20 SWIFT payment: they do not do SEPA payments (which would be cheap or even free). I suggest that you extract the money as cash via ATMs before the 1st November.

Regards

Pickles

[5-element]

 

Pickles - thank you so much. That is so clear and so helpful (in fact, I am going to photocopy your reply and put it in my Nationwide file!).

I do appreciate the extra security afforded by the card reader, it's just that it is an added complication, and I fumbled trying to request one, I'll give it another go.

I was aware of the transfer cost, and the transfer I have in mind is a one-off. In the meantime, yes, I am cashing in all I can via ATMs before November 1st, probably like other Nationwide debit card owners here!

[kiss]

[NormanH]

Just as an aside.

 a 'Swift' number in England is called a BIC number in France.

It is to identify your bank and branch.

The other number is the IBAN ( the internationally understood code for your account)

[5-element]

There you go, BIC is something else I didn't know. Thankfully, I know about IBAN.

I yearn for a return to the days of stuffing banknotes under the mattress, or in the freezer, under the floorboards, buried in the garden, up the chimney etc. ..[:)]

[minnie]

Have you thought of writing an old fashioned letter to the bank and giving them the amount and all the IBAN details of where you want the money transferred.

[mint]

5-e, I tried posting a reply for you today and the connection just went blink.

I had to pay a largish sum of money to someone recently and I used my NW account for it.

You go to the account you want to use, choose Payments and Transfers, then Other Services, then SWIFT

Be sure you get the other party´s details all correct.  In particular, be sure you know the address of their bank.  Don´t know why they need this as the IBAN details should identify the account.  I only know because I didn´t have the exact address and had to ring my recipient for the details before I could pay them.  So, just be prepared to save frustration!

No need for Card Reader if using SWIFT.  If you do it before 1 pm on a working day, the money is received on the same day.  If you do it after 1 pm, then the transfer goes through on the next working day.

You get an email to thank you for using this service so check your emails within the account (top line and they call it your messages or something like that).  Then you check your account to make sure the money´s gone out.  There is an extra entry for the 20 pound fee.

Hope that´s clear and that this post goes through.

[NormanH]

1) Le BIC (Bank Identifier Code) désigne la banque du

bénéficiaire du paiement. Il complète l'information fournie par le code

IBAN. Il comprend normalement 11 caractères, mais quelquefois seulement

8. Le BIC est souvent connu sous le nom de code ou adresse SWIFT.

(2) L'IBAN (International Bank Account Number) est le

numéro de compte bancaire international du bénéficiaire du paiement. Les

systèmes existants de numérotation des comptes bancaires sont

strictement nationaux et ne comportent pas d'élément permettant de

savoir dans quel pays se trouve le compte. La norme IBAN est simplement

l'ajout devant chaque numéro de compte d'un groupe de 4 caractères : 2

lettres permettant l'identification du pays, comme pour un numéro de

téléphone international et deux chiffres permettant le contrôle de

l'IBAN, afin d'éviter les erreurs de transcription. Il comprend au

maximum 34 caractères, mais il a une longueur fixe par pays: par exemple

16 caractères en Belgique mais 27 en France.

[rico]

If you are using the online banking facility, why not continue with your flex account but withdraw money on your nationwide credit card (which incurs no penalties after Nov 1st), then go online and pay off the credit card by your flex account, therby incurring no interest charges.

[Pickles]

[quote user="rico"]If you are using the online banking facility, why not continue with your flex account but withdraw money on your nationwide credit card (which incurs no penalties after Nov 1st), then go online and pay off the credit card by your flex account, therby incurring no interest charges.[/quote]

There is a 2.5% fee (with a minimum of £3) for cash advances - UK or foreign - on Nationwide credit cards. If what you mean is to BUY things with your Nationwide credit card where possible and then pay off from the Flexaccount, then yes, but that's not what your post appears to say..

Regards

Pickles

[5-element]

Thanks to everyone trying to help.

I ONLY want to be able to do a one-off transfer, nothing else. So perhaps I won't need a card reader (although now at least I know what I should do to get one!).

All I now have to do is to find out HOW to do the SWIFT transfer - which was, and perhaps still is, my original problem, simple as it sounds. All the complicated stuff is best left to all the online banking wizzards, including those of you who were kind enough to try and enlighten me. I am afraid I am one of those people who has never bought or sold anything on e-Bay, because I can't get my head around the Paypal transactions, so I probably would need step-by-step instructions for a SWIFT transfer[:'(]...

I might have to resort to Minnie's suggestion in the end. Sweet, if you weren't otherwise engaged on a pilgrimage, I would probably ring you up and you could hold my hand while I click on all the right places to manage the SWIFT transfer. Your description sounds pretty good!

[Pickles]

[quote user="sweet 17"]I had to pay a largish sum of money to someone recently and I used my NW account for it. You go to the account you want to use, choose Payments and Transfers, then Other Services, then SWIFT[/quote]

I've just been into the system and for me it is different. From the "My accounts" tab, as you say, then select (click on) the account that you wish the money to come from. However at that point on my version, I need to click directly on to "other services" (from the RHS list) and then select "Chaps or SWIFT transfer", then select "Currency to overseas (SWIFT)", then click "continue". At that point on the next page the system tells me to put my debit card into the card reader and type in the PIN, then type in a code that is on the webpage into the card reader, which then generates a code which it puts on its display screen, and I type that code into the webpage and then click "authorise". It then takes me to the SWIFT transaction details webpage.

[quote user="sweet 17"]No need for Card Reader if using SWIFT[/quote]

Hmmm: I wonder why your experience was different to mine?

Regards

Pickles

[YCCMB]

5-E, have you been here?

[url]http://www.nationwide.co.uk/search/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=1497[/url]

It says:

How to request a SWIFT online transfer

To be able to submit your SWIFT form online, you'll need

to be registered for Internet banking and have been issued with a Card

Reader. Your Card Reader will be used to confirm your payment. If

you haven't been issued with a Card Reader you will need to print your

form and send it to us.

If you are abroad but do not have your Card Reader to hand, you can print the SWIFT transfer form by following this link to our SWIFT transfer form.  Please complete the form, print and sign it and then send the form to the address printed at the top of the form.

To access and submit/print the SWIFT transfer form online:

• Sign On to the Internet Bank

• click on the 'My Accounts' tab to access the 'My Accounts' screen

• from your 'Account List' click on the account you want to transfer funds from

• click 'Other Services' from the menu on the left hand side of the screen

• under the heading 'Financial Transactions', click on 'CHAPS or SWIFT Transfer'.

Customers without a Card Reader

• click on 'Currency to Overseas Bank (SWIFT)'. Then complete, print
  and sign your form before sending it to the address shown on the printed
  form*.

Customers with a Card Reader

• choose the 'type of payment to be sent' by clicking on the radio button, and click 'Continue'

• you will now be asked to use your Card Reader for authorisation. For help using your Card Reader please follow this link to our Card Reader solution finder

• once you have authorised your payment, continue to complete the on-screen form and instructions to submit your request*.

* There is no minimum or maximum payment amount when transferring using a CHAPS payment.

If that doesn't make sense, then at the bottom of the page it also has a facility for contacting Nationwide help using an online query form. I know it's not like speaking with a real person on the phone, but it might help??

[Chancer]

As an aside the last time I rung the number in the directory for my local Nationwide I got through to branch and was speaking to the girl that I have known since my 20's.

I am pretty sure that they are not yet using a call centre except of course for the UK number printed on the back of the card to be used to advise its loss, never could quite work that one out!

[5-element]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]5-E, have you been here?
[url]http://www.nationwide.co.uk/search/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=1497[/url]

Customers without a Card Reader:

click on 'Currency to Overseas Bank (SWIFT)'. Then complete, print and sign your form before sending it to the address shown on the printed form*.
[/quote]

Fantastic, Betty, thank you so much, this might be exactly the option I should be able to manage! (I am sure I found that link once, but then couldn't find it again, humph) Thank you so much, I feel so much calmer and more secure when I don't have to type endless codes online, without being able to double check whether I have done the right thing...

[YCCMB]

You're welcome.......speaking as someone whose OH seems to have chucked away a lot of my banking stuff by accident whilst I was away, I've just spent a second afternoon either online, or speaking to "a person" about just accessing a couple of accounts..........and finding that I couldn't answer "memorable" security questions because I've forgotten what I decided was memorable.....[:(]

[mint]

Oh, 5-e, I do so hope I didn´t confuse you with my earlier reply.  I am so muddly myself these days that I shouldn´t try to explain things to other people.  Indeed, had I been home, I would have happily talked you through the whole procedure on the phone.

BTW, if you ring the number on your bank statements and, provided you haven´t change your branch since opening the account, you should get through to your original branch.  That´s what I normally do but, to be honest, I often find that the people at the call centres seem to know more about all sorts of things than branch staffl.

I think the banks are now only using branch staff to fill in forms and dish out or take in money whilst the call centre staff are trained to answer any of a number of queries that customers might have.

[5-element]

Sweet 17, it is indeed so kind of you to even reply here, as you have other cats to whip at the moment!!!

You didn't confuse me, you made me wonder.... and then in the end I did as Betty suggested (and Pickles) - and now have sent my duly completed (I think it was properly done but you never know) SWIFT form to my Nationwide branch. A couple of hours later I noticed that the pound was supposed to be dégringoling..... typically. Now I have just washed my hands off it, no longer something I have to do, and too bad if I have lost money.