{"id":115305,"date":"2025-11-21T09:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T09:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=115305"},"modified":"2025-11-21T08:54:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:54:59","slug":"nationwides-major-overhaul-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/nationwides-major-overhaul-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Nationwide\u2019s Major Overhaul: How 2026 Will Transform Your Banking Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bernard’s appointment is a significant development for Nationwide, marking a key step in its efforts to offer mutual business banking on a large scale. With a reputation for prioritising customer service<\/strong> in retail banking, Nationwide is eager to bring that same focus to businesses. Bernard, who has held senior roles at Barclays and Sainsbury\u2019s, is expected to help the building society expand its business banking strategy and capitalise on the potential of its Virgin Money acquisition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Stellar Career in Financial Services<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before taking on this new role, Bernard<\/a> served as Head of Business Banking at Barclays UK, where she oversaw the bank\u2019s business banking strategy, growth, and profitability. Her leadership played a pivotal role in shaping Barclays’ business banking division. Bernard\u2019s experience also spans senior positions at Sainsbury\u2019s Bank, including Deputy CEO, and a pivotal role as Director of Customer Experience at Sainsbury\u2019s Supermarkets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernard\u2019s deep understanding of both customer service and business banking was one of the key factors in her appointment. As Dame Debbie Crosbie DBE, Nationwide<\/a>\u2019s Group CEO, noted, Bernard\u2019s expertise and customer-first mentality were crucial in her selection.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHannah\u2019s commercial acumen, customer-first approach and experience means we can quickly bring the benefits of mutuality at scale to business banking for the first time in the UK.<\/em>\u201d Crosbie said, highlighting Nationwide\u2019s ambition to create a distinct and customer-oriented business banking service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Group Director of Business Banking also brings a strong commitment to supporting women in business. In 2024, Bernard was appointed co-chair of the UK Government’s Invest in Women Taskforce, which works to address the funding gap for female entrepreneurs. This initiative underscores Bernard\u2019s broader interest in driving inclusivity and innovation within the financial sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationwide\u2019s Business Banking Ambitions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nationwide\u2019s push into business banking follows its acquisition of Virgin Money<\/strong> in 2024, making it the first large-scale mutual to offer such services. The aim is to build on the success of its retail banking division, offering businesses across the UK the same level of customer service that Nationwide\u2019s millions of personal customers have come to expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernard herself has expressed enthusiasm about the opportunity to work with Nationwide, recognising the organisation\u2019s strong brand and reputation for excellent customer service. \u201cNationwide is one of the strongest brands in the UK and its customer service is industry leading. I\u2019m looking forward to combining these strengths into a strategy for business banking that is distinctive in the UK<\/em>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationwide\u2019s entry into the business banking sector marks a significant shift in the UK\u2019s financial services landscape. With Bernard\u2019s leadership, the company is set to offer a customer-centric, mutual model of business banking, aiming to challenge the dominance of larger commercial banks while providing tailored services to businesses of all sizes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nationwide Building Society has appointed Hannah Bernard OBE as its new Group Director of Business Banking, effective January 2026. This move follows a major strategic shift as Nationwide, after acquiring Virgin Money in 2024, looks to expand its services into business banking. Bernard\u2019s extensive experience in financial services positions her to steer Nationwide\u2019s approach to business banking, a key area of growth for the society in the coming years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":115307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115305"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115308,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115305\/revisions\/115308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}