Overview
Nationwide is available through SmartrConnect. You can get a Decision in Principle (DIP) without leaving Smartr365, using the data already in the Fact Find and mortgage case. After the DIP, you can prepopulate it into Nationwide for Intermediaries (NFI) and, when Nationwide makes a full application available for that DIP, progress to a Full Mortgage Application (FMA) from Smartr365 as well.
Supported Cases
If the application you are submitting falls outside the requirements below, use the Nationwide Intermediary portal instead. These requirements are also shown at the top of the Nationwide form in Smartr365.
Client
If this is a Remortgage case, the applicant must be the owner occupier of the property
If this is a Remortgage case, 'Employment Type' must be 'Employed' or 'Unemployed'. For Purchase, Piece work 'Employment Type' is not accepted
If this is a Remortgage case, 'Employment Type' must be 'Permanent' when 'Employment Basis' is 'Full Time'
There must be only one entry for 'Current Employment'
The applicant must not be within 10 years of retirement, and the mortgage term plus your client's age must not be greater than their anticipated retirement age
Mortgage Case
'Buyer Type' must be 'Remortgage', 'First Time Buyer' or 'Purchase'
'Additional Product Type' must be blank
'Repayment Method' must be 'Repayment'
If remortgaging, 'Property Sub Type' must not be 'New Build'
The property address must not be a BFPO postcode
For general guidance on SmartrConnect, see How to submit a case with SmartrConnect.
Mandatory Case Data
Nationwide has additional questions which affect the lending decision. Most are only asked when they apply to your case, and the ones marked with an asterisk (*) in Smartr365 must be answered. Ensure the following is complete before submitting:
General Requirements
FCA Number — Your firm's FCA number must be set up. It is used to load the Payment Route options. If it is missing, users who are not admins see FCA number missing. Contact your admin. Admins need to add it in Settings
Buyer Type — Must be Remortgage, First Time Buyer or Purchase
Nationwide-Specific Questions (Per Applicant)
Question | When it is asked | Notes |
Occupation * and Industry * | When the applicant's first current employment is Employed or Self-Employed | Selected from Nationwide's lists for each current employment (up to two) |
Do you receive Bonus, Commission, or Overtime? * | Only for a self-employed limited company role with a shareholding under 20% | If yes, enter the annual bonus, commission and overtime amounts and their frequency |
How long has the applicant been in continuous employment? * | Only for an employed role whose Employment Type is Piece work | Years and months |
Have you become a partner in a professional practice? * | Only for a self-employment that started in the last 12 months: sole trader, contractor, LLP (by the LLP start date), or limited company with a shareholding over 20% | Yes/No |
Previous Employment Occupation * | Only when the current job started less than two months ago | Selected from Nationwide's occupation list |
Previous Name End Date | Only when the applicant has been known by another name | Date the previous name stopped being used |
Does the applicant anticipate their income reducing in the next 2 years? | Always | If yes, enter how much the annual income is reducing by and provide details |
Eligibility questions * (seeking asylum, refugee status, indefinite leave to remain, UK residence) | Only for an applicant with no British or Irish nationality. The asylum, refugee, indefinite leave and one-year residence questions are skipped if already answered in the Fact Find | Yes/No |
Does the applicant have 25% deposit from own resources? * | Only when the case is not First Time Buyer or Purchase and the applicant does not have indefinite leave to remain recorded | Yes/No |
Mortgage History Questions (Per Applicant)
These are asked when the applicant has no existing properties recorded, or has an existing property without a mortgage:
Have you had a mortgage in the last 36 months? *
If yes: Was the mortgage with Nationwide? *
If it was with Nationwide: Was the mortgage paid off in the last 12 months? *
If no: Does the applicant own a mortgage free property or is this a remortgage case?
Property, Loan and Outgoings Fields
Field | When it is asked | Notes |
Payment Route * | Always | Selected from Nationwide's lending centres. If they cannot be loaded, Smartr365 shows Failed to load payment routes |
Annual Building Insurance * | Only when the applicant has had an offer accepted on a property and the Buyer Type is First Time Buyer or Purchase | Annual cost of buildings insurance |
Bungalow Type | Only when the applicant has had an offer accepted on a property and the property type is Bungalow | Selected from Nationwide's bungalow types |
Internal Scheme and External Scheme | Always (Loan Details) | Optional. Additional borrowing from the Fact Find is shown read-only. Use Add Another Reason to add other borrowing; each row needs an amount and a reason |
Rent Expenditure * | Only when the Fact Find records a mortgage or rent expenditure for the applicant (or a joint one for both applicants) | Answer whether there is a rent expenditure and, if yes, enter the amount |
Please provide more details on your child care cost / travel cost | Child care: only when the applicant has children aged 0 to 11 and the Child Maintenance expenditure in the Fact Find is below £290 a month per child aged 0 to 5 plus £140 per child aged 6 to 11. Travel: only when the Transport expenditure in the Fact Find is below £50 a month per applicant | Explain the cost |
Amount to be repaid on or before completion | Only for credit commitments marked to be repaid (credit card, personal loan, HP or car finance, secured loan, student loan, buy now pay later) | Entered for each commitment |
Submitting a DIP
Complete all standard Fact Find data
Open the case and click SmartrConnect in the toolbar at the top of the case, then click the Nationwide logo
Click Obtain New DIP
Answer the Nationwide-specific questions that are shown for your case and select a Payment Route
Tick the disclaimer to confirm your client has consented to share their details with Nationwide. Obtaining a DIP records a soft footprint on your client's credit record
Click Submit DIP Application. Smartr365 checks the case data first and, if anything needs correcting, lists the fields to fix as Validation Errors. Otherwise it sends the application to Nationwide for a decision and opens the results once Nationwide has accepted it
Viewing Your Results
Each submission is listed under Application History on the Nationwide SmartrConnect page, with its type, version, date and status. Click View Results (or View Details if the submission failed) to see the decision. You can also click Results at the top of the page to open the latest DIP. The result is saved against the case, so you can return to this page at any time to see it again. If a submission failed, the results page shows a Retry button, except when the failure was an intermediary authorisation failure, where no retry is offered.
If a DIP certificate is available, the results page shows a DIP Certificate section. Click Download DIP Certificate to add the certificate to the Document Store. View DIP Certificate takes you to the Mortgage Documents section of the Document Store, where the certificate is saved.
If Nationwide allows the DIP to be reprocessed, the results page shows a Reprocess Decision In Principle section with a Reprocess DIP button, and the DIP in Application History shows Reprocess. Use Reprocess to update the answers and click Reprocess DIP Application. If a reprocess needs to be tried again, use Retry Reprocess.
Prepopulating the DIP into NFI
When Nationwide allows it, the results page shows a Prepopulate DIP Data into Nationwide for Intermediaries Portal section with one of these buttons:
Prepopulate DIP — prepopulates your client's DIP data in NFI. Shown when Nationwide makes prepopulation available and product reservation is not available
Prepopulate DIP & Reserve Product — prepopulates the DIP data and reserves your selected product in NFI. Shown instead of Prepopulate DIP when Nationwide makes product reservation available
Once this is done, the outcome is shown in the same section:
If Nationwide makes the full application available, a Progress to FMA button is shown (see below)
If the full application is not available but Nationwide provides a link to NFI, a Continue to NFI button is shown so you can carry on in Nationwide for Intermediaries
If the outcome needs action or has failed, the message from Nationwide is shown in a coloured banner with a Continue to NFI button
Progressing to a Full Mortgage Application
Use Prepopulate DIP or Prepopulate DIP & Reserve Product first. Progress to FMA only appears after one of these, and only when Nationwide makes the full application available for that DIP. It is shown on the results page and next to the completed DIP in Application History, unless a Full Mortgage Application has already been submitted or is in progress
Click Progress to FMA and complete the full application sections, such as fee details, property and property access details, applicant and correspondence details, direct debit and solicitor details
Click Submit Full Mortgage Application
Open the result, or click View Results next to the Full Mortgage Application in Application History, to see its status and any outstanding case requirements. Then click Go to Nationwide to complete the remaining steps in NFI
If Progress to FMA is shown and Nationwide also provides a link to NFI, a Complete directly in Nationwide for Intermediaries link appears underneath it for when you cannot continue in Smartr365.
If you open NFI Online yourself, click Search for a case and enter your case reference in the Case ID field.