Nationwide releases UK’s first high street banking app for AppleWatch

Swindon-based Nationwide building society has today (Wednesday) released the first banking app from a high street financial services provider for Apple Watch in the UK.

The app will enable customers to check their real-time account balance at a glance on the move.

The Society has also unveiled new research showing that despite high levels of people checking their balance on the move (44 percent), half of people were surprised by the amount in their account.

The research by Nationwide, which launched the first smartwatch banking app in the UK last year, shows that three quarters (75 percent) of those surprised by account balances had more in their accounts than they were expecting.

The survey also highlighted that people were more likely to check their account balance (44 percent) than their work email (34 percent) or update their diary (34 percent) whilst on the move.

Barnaby Davis, Nationwide’s Retail Strategy Director, said: “In November 2014, Nationwide became the first financial services provider in the UK to embrace the wearable revolution with our Quick Balance smartwatch app, and we’re excited to announce today that this successful app is available to download for Apple Watches.

“The Nationwide app will give our customers even greater choice about how they manage their money whilst on the move, demonstrating our commitment to doing business on our members’ terms, not ours.”

The new app builds on the popular Quick Balance feature on Nationwide’s mobile banking app, which allows customers secure and immediate access to their account balance, helping members keep on top of their finances anytime, anywhere and at the swipe of a button.

The Quick Balance feature on the app has been used over 37 million times since the launch in June last year.