All Virgin Money customers with personal current accounts, savings, and mortgages now qualify as Nationwide members after the purchase was legally finalized on April 2, 2026. Almost half of Virgin Money's 6.3 million customers have become members of Nationwide Building Society this month. Remaining Virgin Money customers, such as those with credit cards or business bank accounts, can become Nationwide members by opening at least one qualifying product, such as a current account or savings deal. New Nationwide members will be eligible for Fairer Share payments from next year, having missed the March cutoff for any potential payment this year. Nationwide aims to make the Fairer Share payment again this year, subject to financial performance and board approval, with an announcement on criteria and amount scheduled for May 21, 2026, at its end-of-year financial results.
Chris Rhodes, the boss of Virgin Money, is set to depart the firm later this year as the UK bank fully consolidates into the Nationwide umbrella. On Tuesday (April 2026), Nationwide revealed that Chris Rhodes would retire in September 2026. Nationwide agreed a deal for Virgin Money in March 2024 for around £2.9 billion, and Virgin Money would go on to bag around £2.3 billion from the takeover. The takeover of Virgin Money by Nationwide, completed at the start of October 2024, helped forge the UK's second-biggest retail banking provider, ahead of NatWest and behind Lloyds Banking Group.
Nationwide has seen more than a million new people switch to its current accounts since the launch of the Current Account Switching Service in 2013. Nationwide has pledged to keep all its 696 Nationwide or Virgin Money branches open until at least 2030, making it the UK's largest branch network. In April 2025, Nationwide paid more than 12 million members a share of over £600 million to thank them for enabling the purchase of Virgin Money.