Newbury Building Society Reviews 

We took out a discounted tracker mortgage with NBS in December 2024, and our experience since then has been deeply disappointing. Despite two base rate cuts totalling 0.5%, NBS has only passed on a fraction of that to mortgage holders. This feels like selective profiteering, they benefit from the full reduction in their own borrowing costs, yet choose how much (or how little) to pass on to customers.

What’s worse is that savers have been hit just as hard - they’ve slashed savings rates aggressively. So, they’re squeezing customers at both ends. I've held mortgages with several providers before, and I’ve never encountered one so reluctant to treat customers fairly when rates fall.

To their credit, we are able to overpay up to 20% annually without penalty - and we’re taking full advantage of that. We’re making aggressive overpayments purely to avoid paying NBS any more interest than we have to.

In stark contrast, our previous mortgage with First Direct was straightforward, transparent, and honest. The difference in customer experience is night and day.

We would not take another product with NBS, and I’d advise others to look carefully at how your lender treats customers after you sign the paperwork - that’s when it really matters

Personal banking. The way it should’ve done. Yes the app and online is a bit backwards, but I think it’s deliberate to keep personal banking. If ever I have an issue the store can sort it out quickly I never feel out of place by popping into the store

A personal service ……you can speak with a person in branch. Online is of course also available. Nice combination!

My appointment with Ritu on opening my account was delightful very courteous and professional. to be treated as a human being by a human being was my highlight rather than being dictated to by a machine and AI. to some of us service and personal communication is more important sometimes than the best rates rather than being treated as a number.

I've dealt with Newbury Building Society for 45 years and my experience has been consistently excellent - personal and efficient. It feels as if it takes its place as a local Building Society, seriously. The possible face to face or telephone contact is always helpful and friendly.

My wife and I have been members virtually since the time we moved to Didcot over 28 years ago and in all thar time we have never felt unwelcome or had any bad experiences. Quite the opposite in effect - always a warm welcome and friendly/ professional advice. Your interest rates are fully up to and in most cases exceed your competitors so very well done. Always a pleasure to walk into the Branch especially in your new premises which are a step change from the old ones! Well done.

I popped in on the off chance to open an ISA account and was seen to straight away. Hannah sorted it all out in a few minutes. Most impressed. But then I’ve always had great service at Newbury BS

Excellent service ⭐️

I rang the branch to make an appointment to open a new account. There were no convenient times available online but the lady went out of her way to find an appointment that fitted around my working hours. At the appointment I met a different lady who was equally fantastic. Great service ⭐

THE NEWBURY BUILDING SOCIETY wrote to me out of the blue informing me they had frozen my savings accounts and both accounts are now DORMANT!!
To unfreeze them I need to fill out a very long form
along with proving who I am along with a lot of personal questions that have no relevance.
They try this old trick hoping the account holders are no longer able to manage their affairs so they can steal the money with no one noticing !
Also some years ago I tried to borrow off the Newbury Building Society, a very nasty lady asked me hundreds of pointless condescending questions
over some weeks only to offer me a fraction of what I needed for a family emergency.
I easily borrowed 300% more elsewhere !
I will certainly be removing my savings from the NEWBURY BUILDING SOCIETY.

I needed some help to transfer a large amount of money to the Newbury, I sought the help of INDU in the mortgage dept and she was fantastic. Nothing was too much trouble, and she sorted things for me very quickly.
Always polite and a real pleasure to talk to.
Well Done young Lady.

I took a mortgage out with NBS several months ago (tracker) and despite two recent interest rate cuts (0.5% total) they have only shaved 0.3% off by June 2025. Typically will use the protecting savers argument or excuse but they have cut those rates by far more. Avoid at all cost, simple profiteering rather than passing on interest rate cuts. Won’t ever use them again (for anything).

Having read the reviews regarding living in the dark ages they still hold on to the human touch element. In today's society to be able to speak to a human who can make a decision following an actual discussion is amazing. I left my job of 10 years working for a major high street bank who have adopted the "computer says no" approach as there was no longer a common sense approach to lending.
This far outways any modern technology. I'm with Newbury all the way.

I have been with Newbury Building society for many years and have to say they are brilliant I have never had an issue with them in all this time
I spoke to Angela Burton about a new mortgage product, Brian Marcham savings & a young girl I think her name was Mass customer service and they where all superb very friendly & knowledgeable
First class customer service

I used mylostaccount.org.uk to trace an old Newbury account that I knew existed but had no documents for.

I received a letter within a few days (dated the day after my enquiry) clearly explaining what I needed to do to access my account. When I rang to clarify some details I was immediately put through to the right team - and the same person who'd sent the letter - who went through thorough security questions and gave more excellent advice. This was followed up very quickly by email, as was the case for all documents and processes that needed to be dealt with after that.

I won't use Gemma's last name in this review as it's public, but she is an absolute star. I could not be more impressed, and have decided to keep my ISA with the Newbury largely due to her and what she represents in the Society. She clearly knows her stuff inside out, and I hope she's recognised for her excellent work. Thank you, Gemma!

Newbury given an ISA transfer request (twice) well before maturity period expired. On expiry it took a week to process and then send the money to the new provider by (wait for it) a cheque. What kind of 21st century financial institution transfers money using cheques? Answer - Newbury. Someone tell them about the Faster Payment facility!! I see this sort of out-of-date operation has been mentioned before. No progress there then.

There are no words to describe how awful Newbury building society have been to myself and my partner. We were using them to obtain a decision in principle and the first time it went through with no issues because of the rates going down we had to submit another decision in principle and this time they decided to decline us but no information was passed to our mortgage broker or myself or partner we were told they couldn’t discuss it with anyone so we were kept in the dark with no reason as to why we were approved and then rejected.

Newbury have changed their on line access systems, so that I could not gain any access to my funds.

I am a Septuganarian, who has no idea how to deal with computers, let alone having to change the way I have to use them.

I made a call and spoke to 3 seprerate people ( yes 3, I told you I was no good at this)

Each were professional and incredibly patient and stayed with me, while they ensured I got to grips with things.

I was amazed at this type of treatment, in a world where time and tolerance are often forgotten.

Well done

After my mortgage broker obtained my agreement in principle and we went to proceed, Newbury decided that as there are already a number of properties on the development they have interests in, there were too many properties and they no longer wanted to uphold the agreement. Had to go elsewhere as if buying a house isn’t stressful enough without the mortgage letting you down while you’ve already instructed solicitors to proceed!! Thanks for nothing but wasting my time.

The team at Newbury Building Society are brilliant, they are helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. Their Thatcham branch has a new Onebanx machine which is brilliant for depositing cash easily and quickly and also for making withdrawals when you don't have your card on you (which I never seem to have)

Newbury Building Society have always been a delight to deal with. They are the only bank branch that exist in Thatcham now, and with their Onebanx machine it's been great to deposit the cash from our charity.