Everything about calling Nationwide Building Society from abroad
Who Nationwide is, and why members call it from abroad
Nationwide Building Society, based in Swindon, runs current accounts, savings and ISAs, mortgages, loans and credit cards. Its contact page is a set of cards, one per subject, each with its own number and hours. For a member outside the UK the urgent subjects are a card lost on a trip, a card stolen, or a payment on the statement that they did not make. Nationwide puts all of those on one freephone number, 0800 055 6622, and keeps it open around the clock.
What 0800 055 6622 covers
Nationwide gives 0800 055 6622 for reporting a lost or stolen debit card (FlexAccount, FlexOne, FlexStudent, FlexGraduate, FlexBasic and FlexDirect), a credit card, a savings card or a certificate, and for current account and credit card fraud. FlexPlus cards have a line of their own. The cards that carry this number all read 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so the time difference between your hotel and Swindon does not matter here, unlike for Nationwide's enquiry lines.
Why a UK 0800 number is awkward from a foreign line
0800 is UK freephone. Nationwide's own note says calls to 0800 numbers are usually free from a UK BT landline and mobile phones, and that charges can vary, so check with your provider. That rule stops at the border. From a foreign SIM or a hotel phone, a UK 0800 number may not connect at all, or your operator may bill it as an international call at its own rate. When the card is gone and you need the line now, that is the wrong moment to find out.
What Losali does with this number
Losali is an independent dialler that runs in a web browser. Your call travels over the internet and Losali's telecom carrier connects it to 0800 055 6622, so your foreign network only carries data. There is no app to install and no UK SIM to buy, and it works from a laptop or a borrowed phone if your own phone went missing with the card. The panel at the top of this page shows the price before you call.
- If you have the Nationwide app, freeze the card there first: menu, Manage Cards, select the card.
- Have your account or card details and the security information you use for telephone banking ready.
- For a payment you do not recognise, note the date, amount and merchant.
- Note where and when the card went missing.
Lost card: the app first, then the phone
Nationwide's quickest route for a lost or stolen card is its app: open the menu, choose Manage Cards, select the card and pick Freeze card or Report lost or stolen. Nationwide says it cancels the card immediately and sends a replacement. If you cannot get into the app, or there is a payment on the account you need to report as fraud, call 0800 055 6622. The same line takes current account and credit card fraud, 24 hours a day.
Travelling with a Nationwide card
Nationwide says you do not need to tell it before you travel. Its advice is to use your card at the airport or ferry port before you leave, even just to check your balance at a cash machine, and to use Chip and PIN rather than swiping. Nationwide says it regularly checks for fraudulent or unusual activity, so a card may still be stopped while you are away.
What kind of number is this?
Freephone 0800 / 0808. Free to call from inside the UK. With Losali the call is billed at €0.99/min, per whole minute, prepaid, and the price is shown before the call starts.