NS&I plans end to Premium Bond prize cheques

National Savings and Investments (NS&I) has announced plans to phase out its paper prize cheques to Premium Bond winners from December 2020 in a move that will eventually see all prize payments made directly into winner’s bank accounts.

The phasing out of paper prize cheques will last until March 2021and according to NS&I, this switch will result in “a quicker, easier and more secure way for customers to receive prizes”.
Since 2011, Premium Bond customers could choose to have prizes paid directly into their bank accounts and in the September 2020 draw 74% of winners had their prizes paid into their accounts rather than opting for a postal cheque.

Premium Bond customers who are still receiving prizes by cheque will need to ensure NS&I has their current UK bank account details, along with an email address or UK mobile number so that they can be notified of any prize wins. Although NS&I wants all customers to have made the switch by March 2021, it warns that NS&I will never call customers and ask for their bank details.

NS&I can be notified of bank account and contact details by logging onto its website www.nsandi.com and logging into their account. Once in the account, customers should go to ‘Your profile’ and select ‘Your prize options’ and choose to have prizes paid directly to their bank account or have prizes automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds.

Premier Bond customers who are still receiving prizes by cheque will need to ensure NS&I has their current UK bank account details, along with an email address or UK mobile number so that they can be notified of any prize wins. Although NS&I wants all customers to have made the switch by March 2021, it warns that NS&I will never call customers and ask for their bank details.

NS&I can be notified of bank account and contact details by logging onto its website www.nsandi.com and logging into their account. Once in the account, customers should go to ‘Your profile’ and select ‘Your prize options’ and choose to have prizes paid directly to their bank account or have prizes automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds.

One of the reasons for NS&I to make this switch is to reduce the number of unclaimed prizes. There are currently 1.8 million unclaimed Premium Bond prizes, worth over £67 million. Premium Bond customers can check the Premium Bond results by using the online prize checker at nsandi.com, the official NS&I prize checker app, and the Premium Bonds Alexa skill.

Commenting on the phasing out of paper prize cheques, Ian Ackerley, NS&I Chief Executive, said: “Paying Premium Bonds prizes directly into customers’ bank accounts is quicker, easier and more secure for everyone. It will also mean that we can reduce the number of Premium Bonds prizes that go unclaimed where we don’t have a current address for the winner. Customers can also continue to have any prize wins reinvested into more Premium Bonds up to the £50,000 limit to increase their chances of winning in future draws.

“There is an understandable affection for prizes being received by post, but since March, nearly half a million customers have switched from receiving paper warrants to having their prizes paid directly into their bank account or automatically reinvested. As well as being beneficial to our customers, this change will allow NS&I to manage Premium Bonds prize distribution more cost-effectively and with a much lower environmental impact.”