How to transfer money in the UK with a current account

There are 4 methods of payment from your Nationwide current account.

These are single payments. Single payments in the UK can be made via Faster Payments or CHAPS.

We’ll need information like the sort code, account number, name of the person or organisation you want to pay, and a payment reference.

These are regular payments that you can send to a person or organisation. They’re usually sent monthly or annually.

We’ll need information like the sort code, account number, name of the person or organisation you want to pay, and a payment reference.

These are regular payments that are set up with a business or organisation directly.

These are usually used to pay bills, like broadband, water and energy.

If you’ve agreed to share your data with certain third parties, payments can also be made for you by Open Banking.

To send money in person, you just need to visit your local branch and make sure you bring:

To send money from your current account, we’ll need a few details to set them up as a payee.

To set up a new payee, you may need your card reader and we’ll need:

You can set up new payees online in our Banking app or Internet Bank. Not yet registered for our Internet Bank? Register for the Internet Bank today.

You can also set up new payees at your local branch.

If you’ve paid someone before using your current account, they’ll be set up as a payee on your account already.

To send money to an existing payee, log in to your account on our Banking app or Internet Bank, go to the payments section and let us know how much you want to send.

You can also send money at your local branch or with a Nationwide cash machine.

When you set up a new payee, you’ll be asked to enter a payment reference. The payment reference you enter is used every time you pay that person or organisation in the future.

You can change an existing payment reference through our Internet Bank or by visiting your local branch.

You can view, delete and manage your payees in our Banking app or Internet Bank.

If you don’t make a payment to someone for more than 13 months, they’ll be removed from your account. You’ll need to add their details again to pay them.

Unless you choose to pay in a different way, payments you make to others from your current account are sent using the Faster Payments Service.

Faster Payments include most single payments you send online (through our Banking app, Internet Bank or Open Banking) or in branch, whether immediately or in the future. And they include if you send money to another account you have with another building society or a bank.

With Faster Payments, once the payment leaves your account the money normally arrives within 2 hours.

You can schedule payments to go out immediately or on a future date.

If you want a payment to leave your account the next day, it must be set up by 10pm the working day before. If you set it up after 10pm, your payment will be sent on the next working day.

You can change or cancel a future-dated payment up to 10pm on the working day before it’s due to leave your account.

CHAPS payments can be used when you want to send more than the daily limit for Faster Payments. There’s a £15 fee for CHAPS payments. Making large payments with CHAPS can be done in branch or on our Internet Bank.

To send a CHAPS payment in branch, we’ll need:

To send a CHAPS payment online, we'll need:

CHAPS payments requested online before 3pm will arrive the same working day. Those requested after 3pm will arrive the next working day.

If you request a CHAPS payment in branch before 3pm, it will arrive the same working day. Those requested after 3pm will arrive the next working day.

To help keep your money safe, there are limits on certain payments you make to others from your Nationwide current account.

Online bank transfers are a safe and secure way to send money.

There are lots of safeguards in place to help ensure the money you send goes to the right place. We always check that any payment request has come from you. We do this by asking for a combination of your security details such as your fingerprint or codes from your card reader or mobile. You’ll need to check and confirm the details are correct to authorise payments.

If you’re having trouble with your card reader, view our card reader support page.

There are also robust security features on our Banking app and security features on our Internet Bank.

One of the safeguards for sending money is Confirmation of Payee. This requires you to check whether the name and account details you enter match those of the account holder. That way, you can know you're paying who you intend to pay.

When you try to make a payment to a new payee, you’ll be asked to check the details before continuing.

We’re on hand to talk to when you’re not sure about a payment you’re about to make from your Nationwide current account.

Our Scam Checker Service means you can talk to us whenever you're not sure about a payment you're about to make from your Nationwide current account. Whether you're making it in branch, on our Banking app, in the Internet Bank or through Open Banking.

Just call us any time or come into your local branch. We'll ask you about the payment, check the details and tell you if we're worried it’s a scam.

Apart from certain international payments, we normally can’t cancel or reverse a bank transfer once it’s left your current account.

So, the quickest and easiest thing to do may be contacting the person you sent the money to.

If you still need help, we can try to get your money back with our credit payment recovery process.

There are a few reasons a bank transfer might not yet be received.

Faster Payments do not arrive instantly. Once the payment leaves your account, the money normally arrives within 2 hours.

If you’ve sent a Faster Payment and it hasn’t been received, it may still be in your pending transactions. You can view these by logging in to our Banking app or Internet Bank.

If the payment still hasn’t arrived and you think you might have sent a payment to the wrong account, we may be able to help.

A cheque is a written document that instructs us to pay a person or an organisation using funds from your current account.

It can be for any amount. But there must be enough money in your account for it to clear and the payment to go through.