April 2020 – Nationwide Building Society has had to make a U-turn on its intentions to pursue a business banking adventure due, according to the society, to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic which, they say, has made it commercially unviable. The society will return a £50m grant from a pool of RBS cash aimed to foster competition among British banks. The society had intended to launch a digitally enabled business current account by the end of 2019.
It is claimed that the result of this failure will cost members £70 million but who cares – it is only members money. This news is, of course,strictly hush hush but it will probably earn an extra bonus for the directors.