Nationwide Media Centre

• New research from Nationwide reveals that parents are expecting to spend £329 per child* on back-to-school items, up £137 (70%) compared to last year 

•  Over a third of parents (36%) claim that social media is to blame for influencing the list of ‘must-haves’ for schoolchildren, such as designer bags and insulated water bottles 

• To help parents ease the financial pressure of back-to-school shopping, money-saving expert Sue Hayward, shares her money-saving tips 

From today, Tuesday 12 August, homeowners who are looking for a new mortgage deal may benefit from enhanced affordability when applying to remortgage to Nationwide. That means that Nationwide will apply a different affordability calculation when eligible applicants take out a five or 10-year fixed rate product, which may enable them to borrow more.

• Nationwide announces partnership with Refuge to support customers who are survivors of domestic abuse
• Partnership is latest support offered for survivors; Nationwide also offers Safe Spaces across 400 branches
• Nationwide joins call for Individual Insolvency Register to be made private, protecting survivor details
• Domestic abuse remains widespread, with disabled women and 16-19 year-olds reporting highest levels

• Nationwide becomes first financial provider to offer free support over the phone – in addition to online
• Benefits calculator service aimed at helping people apply for unclaimed benefits and tackles digital exclusion
• 2,229 households found they were eligible for over £550 a month on average since calculator launched in late June
• Nationwide opens up service for everyone to use – not just its own customers
• UK’s largest building society calls on government to make access to unclaimed benefits easier

• 52% of Gen Z happy to ‘consciously overspend’ according to new research by Nationwide
• Gen Z spend driven by feeling good and personal brand, according to behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings
  • o Top Gen Z splurges include: fashion, skincare (e.g., Crocs & Glass Skin), and streaming (e.g., Stranger Things)
  • o 39% overspend more in sunny weather than at Christmas – a reversal of older generations
  • o Average monthly overspend: £155 on fashion, £143 on nights out, £89 on drinks like matcha and bubble tea
• Around 15.4 million UK adults across all generations consciously overspend at least once a month
• Women more likely to overspend overall, with 33% doing so once a month, compared to 25% of men
• Over 55s are the most financially restrained, with nearly a third (30%) claiming they never overspend