Nationwide Launches App Feature to Hide Payment References

Nationwide Building Society launched a new app feature on Thursday allowing customers to hide payment references on incoming transfers, marking the first such tool among major high street lenders to shield survivors of domestic and economic abuse from harassment.

The functionality enables users to block potentially abusive or triggering messages embedded in payment references, which perpetrators often include when sending money, such as through repeated small transactions. Payments continue uninterrupted, but the references remain concealed at the recipient's discretion. Nationwide, the world's largest building society, developed the feature in collaboration with survivors and charity Surviving Economic Abuse.

Kathryn Townsend, head of customer vulnerability at Nationwide, said, "Domestic abuse doesn't stop and start at physical harm. It can reach into everyday systems, including banking. When applied, the hide reference feature puts control back with the customer, where it belongs."

Economic abuse affects an estimated 4.2 million women in the UK, according to Surviving Economic Abuse, often involving control over finances alongside other forms of harm. Nationwide's specialist...