Martin Lewis' MSE explains mystery £100 payments landing in bank accounts

Nationwide customers are waking up to surprise £100 payments in bank accounts - and Money Saving Expert has moved to explain why. The BBC and ITV star's MSE team have explained why Nationwide building society customers are getting cash.

It explained: "If you bank with Nationwide, you could get a free £100 paid into your account this month as part of the building society's returning 'Fairer Share' scheme. The bonus will be paid to millions of its current account customers who also have savings or a mortgage with it.

"A total of £385 million will be paid to 3.85 million customers, after the building society announced profits of £2 billion in the last tax year. This is the second time Nationwide has made this kind of payment – last year, it paid a total of £340 million to 3.4 million customers.

"As was the case last year, not all Nationwide customers will get the payment." It explained: "The money will be paid directly into your Nationwide current account between Thursday 13 June and Friday 28 June and will appear on your statement as 'Nationwide Fairer Share Payment'."

The building society said: "If you’re eligible, you can expect to receive the payment between 13 June and 28 June 2024. You don’t need to do anything. So long as you still have an open current account with us, we’ll transfer it straight to you. Should you only have a joint current account, this is where we’ll make the payment."

"Members will need a qualifying current account plus either qualifying savings or a qualifying mortgage. And they would have needed to meet this criteria when we last checked on 31 March 2024. We’re contacting members who are eligible for the payment by 31 May. If you think you’re eligible but haven’t heard from us, you can check."