Common queries

Go to www.nationwide.co.uk and choose 'Register' underneath 'Online banking log in' near the top left of the screen.

Alternatively you can visit your local branch.

Whichever way you choose you'll be asked to give us some brief personal details and choose some security information. An individual customer number and passnumber will then be posted to your registered address within 3 - 5 working days.

Joint account holders

It's important that you both register your joint account separately and receive your own log in details, to view accounts held in your name. Your customer number and passnumber should never be shared.

To re-register, go to www.nationwide.co.uk and choose 'Register' underneath 'Online banking log in' near the top left of the screen.

You'll receive a reminder of your customer number and a new passnumber in the post within 3 - 5 working days.

Important: Once you re-register, you must not attempt to log in with your passnumber until you receive your new details. Re-registering cancels your existing passnumber so if you use it your account will be locked out, which will also invalidate the new details that are on the way to you in the post. However, if you have a card reader and your FlexAccount Visa debit card you can use this to login. Find out how to use your card reader.

Use the on screen help to check you’re entering your card or account number in the right format. Check the account you’re trying to register is one that can be viewed online.

If you recently applied for this account, it may not be open. Please wait until you have confirmation that your account is fully opened before registering. If you registered as part of your application, you won’t need to register again. Your new security details (which will replace your ‘T’ number’) will be sent to you within 3 - 5 working days of your account being confirmed as open.

If you are registering with a FlexAccount, credit card, or savings account card:

• You will be asked for your card number, rather than your account number. This is the long number printed across the middle of the card.

If you are registering with a mortgage account:

• Your account number is printed on the top left side of your mortgage year end statements.

If you are registering with a savings passbook or certificate based account:

• Your account number is printed on the inside of the front cover of your passbook or on the front of your certificate.

When prompted, you must select ‘registering using a foreign address’ as the ‘find address’ search only works for UK addresses.

It will take longer than 5 working days for your log in details to reach you as we’re reliant on the foreign postal service.

If you have a Visa debit card we'll issue you with a card reader.

If you live abroad you may be asked to contact us to confirm receipt so we can activate it for use. If you don’t have the correct card and card reader you may not be able to carry out transactions on our online banking service. It may take a little longer than published times to get your card and card reader to you as we're reliant on local postal services.

Find out more about card reader security and how it affects you.

Once you have registered, an individual customer and passnumber will be posted to your registered address within 3-5 working days.

Please note; if you did not set memorable data as part of registration, you will need to wait to receive your Card Reader before you can log in (this will be sent separately).

If you haven't received this after seven working days, please re-register. Alternatively, you can contact Nationwide Direct on 08457 30 20 10 for help.

Card readers have been issued to most Online Bank registered customers with FlexAccounts that have Visa debit cards (excluding cash card+) to use when performing certain transactions on the Online Bank. If you are one of these customers you will be able to log in using your card reader.

You have the option to use your memorable data and passnumber, however, you will still need a card reader to carry out certain transactions.

If you have not been issued with a card reader, when you log in to online banking you will be asked to type in your customer number. This is the number we posted to you when you registered (you cannot choose this number).

Secondly, you are asked to enter an item of memorable data. This can be any one of the three items (date, place or name) that you provided us with when you registered.

Finally you will be asked for three digits from the passnumber - we also posted this to you after you registered. Using the mouse, select the requested digits using the drop down lists.

The log in link is situated at the top of each page above the search box or alternatively on our homepage on the left side of the screen next to the padlock.

When you open an account online for the first time we issue you with a temporary customer number which allows you to track the progress of your application. Once your account is opened, we'll automatically send a new customer number and passnumber to your home address.

When you log in to use online banking you'll need to use your new customer number and passnumber, along with the memorable data you chose when you first registered. You can change your memorable data and passnumber to something more memorable if you prefer.

We will post an individual customer and passnumber to your registered address within 5-7 working days.

If you haven't received your customer or passnumber within 7 days please call 01793 556811 for further information. In order for us to track the progress of your application we will need your registration reference number.

Log in to the Online Bank and select the 'Manage my details and settings' tab, then choose 'My security settings'. This will give you the option to change your memorable data and your passnumber securely.

Your Memorable Data (Memorable Date, Place and Name)
For security reasons, we may ask you for three items of memorable data when you register.

These should be easy to remember pieces of information that you will recall straight away when you are logging in.

Again for security reasons, we advise you not to use anything too obvious such as your date of birth, or your partner's date of birth. Don't use the name of the place you are living in and don't use your first name or your partner's first names.

If you register in a branch or on the phone, and have a current account with a Visa debit card, you will not have been asked to set memorable data when you registered. You will be asked to set your own memorable data once you have logged in with your Card Reader.

Memorable Date
This must be 8 numeric digits long. Do not use any spaces, slashes, dashes, or any other form of punctuation.

For example, if you chose the 25 December 1990, you would type two numbers for the day, 25, then two for the month, 12, and finally the four digits for the year 1990. You would end up with 25121990. The 3rd of December 1990 would be 03121990.

Do not use a string of repeated numbers like 11111111. Finally, do not use any dates on or before 31st December 1500 your last four digits cannot be in a year up to and including 1500.

Memorable Place and Name
Your memorable place/name can be between 6 and 12 characters long.

You can only use letters. Don't use any spaces, slashes, dashes, or any other form of punctuation.

Do not use a pattern of one character over and over again.

Finally, the place/name cannot start with the letters XQZ.

If you'd like to change your memorable data, please see question 'I want to change my memorable data and or passnumber'.

Your passnumber
We send you a 6 digit passnumber when we complete your registration. If you are not Card Reader enabled, you will be asked to enter 3 of those digits along with your memorable data when you login.

Your passnumber can be any 6 digit number but should not be something obvious that others may guess.

You will also need to use your passnumber to login the mobile banking app.

If you'd like to change your passnumber, please see question 'I want to change my memorable data and or passnumber'.

I'm sure I'm entering my details correctly, so why can't I log in to online banking?

The message, "your details have been entered incorrectly", only appears when the log in details entered do not match the log in details you gave us when you registered. See How do I choose my Log in details for advice on how to check your log in details and memorable data format.

Check the passnumber box is not highlighted (i.e. dark blue in colour) before using the scroll wheel on your mouse as this could change the digit you've selected.

You may need to check your browser settings are correct.

If you have forgotten your:

Customer number:
If you have a Card Reader and a FlexAccount Visa debit card, you can look up your customer number using this. Simply click, I've forgotten my Customer Number, on the login page. If not call Nationwide Direct on 08457 30 20 10 for a reminder.

Memorable data:
If you have forgotten one piece of your memorable data, you may use either of the two remaining pieces of data. If you can't remember any of the memorable data you supplied, you will need to re-register to use the service (please view the registration page on how to re-register).

Please note; if you did not set your memorable data as part of registration, you will need to wait to receive your Card Reader before you can log in. Once you have logged in with your Card Reader, you can set memorable data by the 'Manage your account' page on the Internet Bank.

Passnumber:
For security reasons we can't tell you what your passnumber is or issue you with a reminder. You'll need to re-register to use the service (please view the registration page on how to re-register) or login using your Card Reader and FlexAccount Visa debit card. Find out how to use your card reader.

This means you have entered your log in details incorrectly. Your passnumber has been cancelled for security reasons. Please see question "What happens if I enter my passnumber incorrectly"

Check you're typing the address into the address bar and not the search engine.

Also, try deleting your Temporary Internet Files as follows:

Choose 'Tools', then 'Internet Options'. Choose the General Tab. Under 'Temporary Internet Files', select 'Delete Files'. Under the sub heading 'History', select 'Clear History'. Click 'OK'.

We also recommend you check your browser settings.

If you are running a firewall we also recommend you check the settings (for example, to check it allows you to access secure sites). Your firewall manual will give you further information

If you are receiving the following message 'session has expired' prior to logging in, then you will need to delete your temporary Internet Files as follows:

Choose 'Tools', then 'Internet Options'. Choose the General Tab. Under 'Temporary Internet Files', select 'Delete Files'. Under the sub heading 'History', select 'Clear History'. Click 'OK'

We also recommend you check your browser settings.

If you are using Netscape, or you experience further difficulties, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You should receive your log in details in the post within 3-5 working days. If you haven't received these after seven working days, please re-register. Alternatively, you can contact Nationwide Direct on 08457 30 20 10 for help.

This isn't the same as your account number and would have been sent to you when you registered for the online banking service. If you've forgotten the number, and have a card reader and a FlexAccount Visa debit card, you can look up your customer number using this. Simply click, I've forgotten my Customer Number, on the login page. If not call Nationwide Direct on 08457 30 20 10 for a reminder.

If your passnumber is entered incorrectly three times you'll have to re-register as we're unable to find out your existing passnumber due to it being encrypted for security reasons. To re-register please view our registration page.

If you close your browser, but don't choose 'log out', then the online banking session is still valid but will expire after 15 minutes of inactivity.

As the session ID is randomly generated and encrypted nobody else would be able to access your session.

The following accounts are not available online:

• Business accounts e.g. BusinessInvestor
• Commercial Mortgages
• Discontinued personal accounts
• Personal Loans
• Investment and Protection products
• Insurance products e.g. travel insurance

If you have a current account, mortgage, credit card, or personal savings account which are not listed in 'Overview of accounts', please try the following:

1. Log out from your online banking screen, wait for 5 minutes and log back in again
2. Ensure you are not using someone else's log in details (e.g. Partner, family member)
3. Ensure that you are a named account holder on the account. If the account in question is a Nationwide Credit Card, additional card holders will not be able to view the account online
4. Has the account been opened recently? New accounts will take up to 5 working days from opening before they are viewable online

Still can't see your account? You'll need to give us a few details so we can look into it. When you've logged in to the 'Overview of accounts' screen, you will see a link in the Related Services box where you can report missing accounts.

You can only notify us of accounts held in your own name, or joint accounts on which you are a named holder. You cannot submit your partner's private account details for use on the Online Bank.

When you activate e-Savings, you'll see the screen 'What happens next'. This confirms your e-Savings has been opened. Once an e-Savings facility is activated, it takes five working days for it to appear online. When it does show amongst your list of accounts, you will then be able to transfer funds to the e-Savings from your FlexAccount using the 'Move Money' option. Once your e-Savings has been opened, we will also write to advise you. Please note that your initial investment will earn interest from the date your e-Savings was opened.

If you use the internet through a server or network, then you'll need to check with your systems administrator to see if there are any security restrictions on internet access, such as not supporting "secure page" connections (https://).

If the server/network does support "https://" and your PC meets the minimum requirements, then there should be no problem connecting to online banking. If you connect directly via a modem to the internet and your PC meets the minimum requirements, then there should be no problem.

If you're using a PC at work we can't provide support as there may be restrictions in place by your employers which prevent you using this type of service.

Visit our card reader security page for information on how to use card reader security, view a demo and answers to common queries.

Visit our security questions page for information and answers to common queries on security questions or to view a demo.