Human rights standard

Nationwide holds a unique position in the UK financial services sector. The combination of our scale, mutual model, and strong reputation enables us to prioritise customer experience and value, whilst having a positive impact on wider society and growing our business to bring the benefits of mutuality to more people across the UK.

We are owned by our members (customers with a Nationwide-branded current account, mortgage, or savings). We deliver our retail banking products and services to our customers, helping them with managing their everyday finances, buying a home, and saving for the future. We also offer other retail products, including credit cards, personal loans, and insurance. And we support landlords, through our buy-to-let business, The Mortgage Works, and through Virgin Money. Our acquisition of Virgin Money on 1 October 2024 has broadened our product range to include Virgin Money’s business banking services, which we intend to offer to more customers across the Group over time. Our business customer portfolio primarily comprises small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Our strategy is centred around our purpose: ‘Banking – but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society.’ This articulates our ambition to make a positive difference for our members and customers, our communities and society as a whole.

We also seek to be a good employer. Our purpose and core mutual values inform how we respect, uphold, and promote universally-accepted labour rights across our operations and value chain.

We believe in doing business in a way that promotes and respects the human rights of everyone who is impacted by Nationwide. We are committed to building positive relationships with all our stakeholders.

Through our policies and processes, we seek to make a positive impact on our stakeholders. We will address and reduce, where possible, any potential negative human rights impacts that our business might have on those around us.

Nationwide’s respect for human rights is aligned with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), and those codified in international law through the International Bill of Human Rights. This requires us to protect, respect, and remedy human rights in a business context, and consists of the:

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (opens in a new window)
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (opens in a new window)
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (opens in a new window)
• International Labour Organization (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (opens in a new window)

As a signatory to the UN Global Compact, we are aligned to its principles, including those encompassing human and labour rights. We are a signatory to the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Principles for Responsible Banking, reinforcing our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is also our aspiration to support the UK in achieving its ambition to be net zero by 2050. Our Mutual Good Commitments demonstrate how our business aligns to, and supports, the UN SDGs. More information on our Mutual Good Commitments can be found in our Environmental, Social and Governance disclosures.

We remain committed to a net-zero future. We recognise that climate change continues to present a risk to us and our customers, and it is our aspiration to support the UK in achieving its ambition to be net-zero by 2050. As a member of the Financing a Just Transition Alliance, we believe in supporting a just transition.

Our expectations relating to ethical working practices extends to the business partners we work with. Our Third Party Codes of Practice for our Nationwide and Virgin Money sub-groups (Nationwide Third Party Code of Practice and Virgin Money Supplier Code of Conduct, PDF 1.3MB (opens in a new window)) outline the environmental and social standards we expect our suppliers to uphold, beyond applicable legal requirements.

In accordance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, we publish our annual Modern Slavery Act Statement on our website. This outlines the steps we take to mitigate the risk of slavery or human trafficking taking place across our business operations and supply chain.

We take great care in trying to identify and reduce any harm that may affect people, either directly or indirectly, by the way we do business. This is an ongoing process that we take very seriously, including across our operations and value chain. The measures we have in place to support our customers, colleagues, suppliers and communities are described in our Environmental, Social and Governance disclosures. We have a suite of controls, policies and practices that support a culture of responsible behaviour across our business. More information can be found in Nationwide’s policies and statements and Virgin Money’s policies and statements.

Nationwide exists for its customers and members, providing financial products and services which help them with managing their everyday finances, saving for the future, and buying a home. Accessible and inclusive financial services afford people their right to dignity, security, equality, and inclusion. We recognise our responsibility in helping to reduce some of the risks and challenges that might prevent equal access to these rights.

We are guided by UK financial regulations, including the FCA’s Consumer Duty and the FCA’s Guidance on the Fair Treatment of Vulnerable Customers. We are committed to meeting the needs of, and providing good outcomes for, all our customers, including those in vulnerable circumstances. We have measures and processes in place to recognise, understand and respond to the needs of vulnerable customers.

We promote an open and responsive attitude to feedback and complaints. Customers can have their input and say through a range of channels, including through our business operating channels, online research communities and customer experience surveys.

We provide customers with choice in the way they bank with us, including through our digital channels, on the phone, or in our network of branches (underpinned by our Branch Promise, which we have extended to include Virgin Money’s branches following our acquisition of Virgin Money). We seek to make our channels accessible and inclusive for all our customers, including those with disabilities, and we have a range of initiatives in place to support them, as described in our Environmental, Social and Governance disclosures.

We want to support and protect our customers’ financial wellbeing by helping to build their financial resilience. We do this by:

• Supporting good savings habits and increasing confidence in managing money.
• Working to address the challenges many people experience when buying and accessing quality homes, through our propositions, through our lending to the social housing sector, and through engagement with regulators and policymakers.
• Helping to protect customers from economic crime.
• Understanding and responding to vulnerable customers’ needs, including those in financial difficulty, and providing specialist support where required.
• Applying a strong ethic of care, inclusion, and accessibility through the design and availability of our channels; our aims for financial inclusion; and in the way we design, sell, and manage our products and services.
• Engaging with regulators and policymakers to champion the needs and interests of our customers.

We have a variety of initiatives in place to support our ambitions, as described in our Environmental, Social and Governance disclosures.

We work hard to protect our customers from becoming the victims of crime, and to prevent Nationwide from being used to facilitate any form of economic crime. Our robust framework of controls, policies, standards, and procedures are focused on preventing and minimising economic crime throughout all areas of our business and in our supply chain across the Group.

We focus on:

• Ensuring our customers can transact safely, protecting customers from fraud and scams.
• Using policies, procedures, and regular training to help us operate with integrity, and defend against economic crime, including modern slavery, financial abuse, and other forms of financial exploitation and crime.
• Keeping customers’ money and personal data safe and secure.
• Providing a range of ways for customers to raise concerns.

Nationwide is committed to detecting and deterring modern slavery and human trafficking throughout our business operations and supply chain. Our anti-slavery approach has three focus areas:

• Raise awareness
• Detect and disrupt
• Support victim-survivors

We mitigate and manage the risk of modern slavery through a range of controls and due diligence processes. These include:

• Reporting suspicions of modern slavery, identified through transaction monitoring and suspicious behaviours in our branches.
• Supporting the needs of vulnerable individuals, who we recognise are at greater risk of exploitation.
• Providing alternative options to customers without standard identity documentation, including offering basic bank accounts to support financial independence and inclusion.
• Recruiting colleagues in a responsible way; providing training, decent work and a living wage; and promoting channels for speaking up and whistleblowing.
• Conducting due diligence within our supply chain processes, including requesting suppliers attest to comply with our Third Party Code of Practice (Nationwide Third Party Code of Practice, PDF 435KB (opens in a new window) and Virgin Money Supplier Code of Conduct, PDF 1.3MB (opens in a new window)) – see our Third Parties section below.

Our Modern Slavery Act Statement outlines what we are doing to mitigate and manage the risks of modern slavery.

We believe that our colleagues should be treated with respect and dignity, and work in an environment that is inclusive, and free from harassment and unlawful discrimination.

We respect and promote the human rights of all our colleagues across the Group, through:

• Our Human Resources policies and processes, which reflect best practice and adhere to legal requirements.
• Building an inclusive culture, where our colleagues can thrive and develop rewarding careers.
• Providing colleagues with a range of support for their physical, mental, emotional, social, and financial wellbeing.
• Providing our colleagues with a safe and healthy work environment that is free from discrimination.
• Ensuring working hours are not excessive and that colleagues take appropriate rest breaks and holidays to ensure a work-life balance. Our range of family-friendly leave supports our approach.
• Providing fair remuneration and equal pay for equal work. We embrace the commitment to pay the real Living Wage for all our employees who we hire directly, which includes apprentices, temporary workers, and contractors, going further than the Government’s National Living Wage. We also offer other competitive benefits.
• Complying with relevant legislation when employing those under the age of 18.
• Complying with relevant data protection legislation when processing colleague data.
• Supporting our colleagues’ right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

We carry out regular pay monitoring and test our approach through periodic equal pay audits. These make sure our policies are operating fairly and without bias. We also publish our gender pay gaps (Pay gaps at Nationwide sub-group: Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Report 2024, PDF 114KB (opens in a new window). Pay gaps at Virgin Money, PDF 2.5MB (opens in a new window)). In addition, our Nationwide sub-group publishes its Ethnicity Pay Gap, PDF 114KB (opens in a new window).

Our Labour Rights Standard provides further detail on our commitment to protect and promote labour rights for all colleagues at Nationwide. More information on our approach to supporting colleagues can also be found in our Environmental, Social and Governance disclosures.

Both Nationwide and Virgin Monday operate respective Codes of Conduct that ensure, as a Group, we operate ethically and with integrity. The Codes guide colleagues on the standards of conduct and behaviour we expect from them, so that we can deliver positive and meaningful outcomes for our customers.

We continually listen to our colleagues by providing regular opportunities for them to share their views, including through our culture and engagement surveys. This allows us to respond with agility and pace to support where and when needed. We gather insights through surveys, listening events, including with the Group Chief Executive Officer and executive management, and through engagement with our employee network groups and staff unions.

We support, promote, and encourage our colleagues to speak up whenever they witness or experience actual or potential misconduct, wrongdoing, or unacceptable behaviour; and we want them to feel confident to do so without fear of retaliation. We have arrangements in place for employees, contractors, and temporary workers across the Group to raise concerns, as outlined in our Nationwide sub-group Whistleblowing Policy Statement and Virgin Money Whistleblowing Policy Statement, PDF 197KB (opens in a new window). We also encourage our suppliers to share their concerns, as outlined in our Nationwide sub-group supplier whistleblowing guidance, PDF 429KB (opens in a new window), and Virgin Money supplier code of conduct, PDF 1.3MB (opens in a new window).

Colleagues can raise concerns confidentially or anonymously (if preferred) via a range of whistleblowing channels, including online portals hosted by independent third parties.

Under our policies and processes, Nationwide does not tolerate bullying, harassment, or unlawful discrimination of any kind, whether for our employees, contractors, suppliers, or customers.

We are guided by a social purpose and aim to have a positive and meaningful impact for our customers, communities, and society as a whole. We commit at least 1% of our pre-tax profits each year to charitable activities. We also seek to use our capability, scale, and influence to drive positive change for the good of society.

This includes engaging with the government and politicians to champion the interests of our customers and Nationwide, such as working with them to help overcome the barriers to owning a home, and on promoting financial inclusion. We are also engaged through our trade association memberships, including UK Finance and the Building Societies Association.

We recognise the value that our high street branches have for our customers, and we have promised to keep every one of our branches open until at least the start of 2028¹. Through our partnership with Dementia UK, we are hosting bookable dementia clinics with Admiral Nurses in Nationwide branches, offering free, specialist support and advice to those impacted by dementia. We are also providing safe spaces – private rooms in many of our Nationwide branches that are available to support anyone experiencing domestic abuse or exploitation.

More information on how we are supporting our communities can be found in our Environmental, Social and Governance disclosures.

As a mutual, and a member of the Financing a Just Transition Alliance, we believe in supporting a just transition so that, as we transition to a net-zero economy, the most vulnerable in society are not disadvantaged.

Our Climate-related Financial Disclosures detail our understanding of the impact of climate change on the Group and our customers, and consider the potential impacts of our activities on climate change. In addition, they explain how the risks from climate change and nature are managed and incorporated into our governance model, and the metrics and targets used to monitor the risk.  

Our Environmental Standard articulates our environmental ambition and provides links to the relevant disclosures that provide information about our climate strategy, net-zero ambitions, and our approach to sustainability.

We are different from a bank. Our assets must largely comprise of residential mortgages, which includes social housing and buy to let lending. We also lend to business customers, who are primarily UK-based small or medium enterprises. We are committed to working with our customers to understand their environmental and social impacts, and have put in place sector-specific lending restrictions. Our treasury investment portfolio, held primarily for liquidity purposes, is made up of cash and low risk investments. We do not invest in corporate bonds or equities.

Nationwide Treasury aims to hold at least £2 billion of ESG assets, which includes bonds issued by multilateral development banks and green, social, and sustainable labelled bonds. Multilateral development banks provide financial support for economic and social progress in developing countries and help to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Read about our approach in our Responsible investment statement.

It is important to us that our suppliers reflect our values and ambitions. Our Third Party Codes of Practice (Nationwide sub-group Third Party Code of Practice, PDF 435KB (opens in a new window) and Virgin Money Supplier Code of Conduct, PDF 1.3MB (opens in a new window)) outline the environmental and social standards we expect our suppliers to uphold, beyond applicable legal requirements, which includes our expectations around ethical working practices and respecting the values and human rights of their workers. This includes, but is not limited to, prohibiting the use of child, forced, or involuntary labour; and to respect labour rights including those relating to discrimination and whistleblowing. During our onboarding process, new suppliers are asked to confirm compliance with the Codes. We also continually monitor and manage third-party supplier sustainability performance. More information on how we responsibly and ethically select and manage our third parties, can be found in our Environmental, Social and Governance disclosures.

Our Responsible Business Committee is the executive-level committee accountable for overseeing Nationwide’s responsible business agenda and sustainability-related matters, including those related to human rights. Our Human Rights Standard outlines our approach to promoting and supporting human rights.

We use research, policies, risk assessments, and other strategies and initiatives to support and protect the rights and dignity of our customers, colleagues, third parties and communities.

More information on our ESG governance can be found in our Environmental, Social and Governance disclosures.

Our Human Rights Standard is supported by policies and processes that help us to identify human rights coverage and any associated risks and gaps. More information on some of these policies can be found on our Nationwide sub-group’s policies and statements and Virgin Money’s policies and statements webpages. More on our policies can also be found in our Environmental, Social and Governance disclosures.

Last updated: July 2025