Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

To open a savings account with Manchester Building Society, you need to be aged 16 or over, a UK resident for tax purposes, and have a UK bank or building society account in your name.

Log in by clicking on the "login" button on the top right-hand of the toolbar. You'll then be asked to enter your user ID, password and memorable data.

You should have received your user ID in your welcome email we sent you, or you may have personalised this to something more memorable.

Your password should be the same as when you set it when you opened your account, unless you have changed it since.

You’ll be asked to provide certain characters from each memorable answers for the three questions you selected when you applied for your savings account.

You can also see "I've forgotten my password, user ID, or memorable details - how can I access my account?" for more information.

For further assistance, please contact us on 0345 604 0050.

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If you’ve forgotten your password, click "reset your password" on the login page. You’ll need to enter your user ID and the email address linked to your account. We’ll send you an email with a secure link. After clicking the link, you'll be prompted to enter your user ID and the last 4 digits of your nominated bank or building society account. Once verified, you can set a new password.

If you’ve forgotten your user ID, select "forgotten your user ID?" on the login page. You’ll need to provide your surname, memorable details (set when you opened your savings account), and the email address linked to your account. Once we verify your information, we’ll send a reminder of your user ID via email.

If you've forgotten your memorable details or have trouble resetting your password or user ID, please contact us on 0345 604 0050. 

If your account is locked, you will need to call us so we can help with resetting your password.

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You can view your balance by logging in to your online account.

Once successfully logged in, you’ll see a summary of each of your savings accounts on the "account summary" page. The information displayed will include your account number, balance, and interest rate.

Once your Manchester Building Society savings account is open, we'll email you your user ID; this is unique to you and is a combination of letters and numbers, you can personalise these details once logged in if you wish.

Select "change details" where you should now see all your existing account details, then select "personalise my user ID". Here you will be able to personalise your user ID, which must be a combination of letters and numbers between 8 and 20 characters.

In order to authorise the change to your user ID, you’ll need to enter your password and select "save user ID," this will update your user ID to the one you choose.

You can use your new user ID when you next log into your account.

You can only personalise your user ID once online. If you wish to change this again, please contact us on 0345 604 0050.

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Please go to "change details" in the main toolbar once logged into your account. Here you'll be able to update your address, contact details, email address, security details (password/memorable details), user ID, nominated account, and marketing preferences instantly. 

If you have had a change of name or wish to add another person to your savings account, we'll need more information from you. The "change details" and "add account holder" sections will provide you with what's required and the link to the form you need to complete and send back to us. If your email address has changed, please could you update us as this is one of main the ways we will usually contact you.

If you need help making a change to your account, please contact us on 0345 604 0050. If you’re already a customer, you can send us a secure message through the customer portal.

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You can use secure messaging 24 hours a day to contact us about any queries you have about your account. We'll review any messages during our business hours and send you a response. When a response is sent back via secure messaging, you'll receive an email alert asking you to log in to view it.

Please refer to your product special conditions for details of the terms and conditions associated with closure on your account.

Yes, we understand that occasionally people may change their mind. If you choose to cancel your application after you have funded the account, you can do so by putting this in writing or cancelling your application over the telephone within 14 calendar days, unless your product terms and conditions state otherwise. Alternatively, if you do not fund your account, it will automatically close within a set number of days depending on the product.

Please send a payment from your nominated UK Bank or Building Society account using the following details:

If you are asked whether you wish to pay a person or a business, please select ‘person’.

• Beneficiary: Your first and last name
• Sort code: 23 02 95
• Bank account number: 00000001
• Reference: Your Manchester Building Society account number. Your account number is a 13-digit account number which can be found in your welcome letter or by logging into your account online. Please ensure that your account number is entered exactly as shown including any uppercase letters.

The amount you are sending to your account must meet the minimum opening deposit required for your account, as shown in your product terms and conditions. If it does not, the payment will be rejected and returned to the source account within 1-2 working days.

If your Manchester Building Society savings account allows for withdrawals and additional deposits, you can transfer your savings between accounts. Simply log in, select the account you wish to transfer from, and click ‘move money’.

The product specific terms and conditions will tell you if you’re able to make withdrawals on your account. You can choose to make a withdrawal back to your nominated bank account, or you can transfer to another easy access Manchester Building Society account that you hold with us, subject to the terms of that account.

In order to make a withdrawal from your account, you must login to your account. You should see all of your savings’ accounts on the "account summary" page. Choose the account you’d like to transfer your funds from and select "move money".

Select the account you want the funds transferred to, either your nominated bank or building society account or an existing Manchester Building Society savings account and confirm the amount you wish to transfer. You can state the date you want to transfer or if you want the transfer to be set up regularly.

To authorise the transfer, enter your password and select "confirm". You can now see the withdrawal as pending in your ‘pending transactions’.

Any withdrawal requests received before 4pm will reach your nominated bank account the same day, however, any payments received after 4pm will reach your account the following business day.

To view or download your monthly statements you must login to your account.

Once you log in to the "account summary" page, you’ll see a list of your "savings accounts". A range of options will be displayed next to each account. Select "interest statement" or "monthly statement" depending on which you want to see.

Selecting this will take you to the "account statement" page; from here, you can see a mini-statement or create a custom statement between two dates of your choice.

On the monthly statements page, you can select "view statement" against the month you want to see. From here you can download or print the statement.

If you close your savings account, we recommend you download or print any statements you wish to save, as your online account will only remain visible for 12 months.

You can visit one of our branches where our friendly staff will be able to assist you with the correct process for changing details such as your address, email address and marital status.

For online account guidance, please see the online account help section.

For further assistance, call us on 0345 604 0050. 

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Yes, you can if the product special conditions of your account permit this. You will need to complete an ‘addition of account holder form’. The additional applicant may be required to provide paper documents to confirm their identity and address.

Yes, of course. We will ask you to send in written confirmation to us asking us to change the account to a single account. Please note, this must be signed by all existing account holders.

Depending on your product terms and conditions, you are able to invest into your account by cash, cheque or debit card in branch.

For online account guidance, please see the online account help section.

Yes, in order for a third party transaction to be processed an Authority to Withdraw form is required and must be completed by the account holder(s). A letter of authority from the account holder can be accepted, but only if it contains the same amount of detail as the Authority to Withdraw form. Proof of identification will be required for the third party making the transaction. Withdrawals in cash are limited to £100, but there is no stated limit for cheque withdrawals.

If a deposit is made by cheque on a business day, interest will be earned from the following working day of the cheque being received by Manchester Building Society. If a cheque is paid in on a non-working day, for example on a Saturday, it will earn interest from the second working day. In this example this would be on the Tuesday. If a deposit is made by electronic transfer, you will receive interest on the day we receive your funds.

We will notify you by email or letter at least 14 days prior to any rate reduction on your account.

Yes, we can issue interest statements on request for your accounts. Please contact us to request an interest statement and we will issue this for you.

Online account users can access these when logged into their account. Please see 'How do I get a statement or summary of interest?'

Due to the number of accounts we launch and the number of members we have, it would be impractical to notify all customers about our new products.

If you would like to discuss our current range of products, please call us on 0345 604 0050 or contact your local branch.

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For branch-based accounts we will require your account passbook/card to make a withdrawal.

It is always helpful to have documentary ID with you, just in case we need it, such as a passport or driving licence, a bank statement or other bill showing your address details. 

If you open an account in a branch, you will receive a passbook or passcard which records transactions on your account. We will require a passbook/card to make a withdrawal.

This amount is £500 cash per day, per account. This is subject to the terms and conditions of your product.

Let us know as soon as possible. You must notify Manchester Building Society in person at any branch, by telephone or by letter and the Society will issue you with a lost/stolen passbook declaration. For security, the account holder(s) must then complete a lost/stolen passbook declaration within the next three days. Following receipt of the declaration, a new passbook will be issued and sent to your address.

Cheques are only accepted for branch accounts, not online.

Please make this payable to yourself, if you are the account holder, or in the account holder’s name with the reference: Manchester Building Society. Also, please quote your account number on the back of the cheque.

If you pay a cheque into your Manchester Building Society account, please allow four working days for this to clear for a non-Manchester Building Society cheque.

No, we can issue cheques requested by post and phone. If you send us a letter, please state your name, address, account number, who the cheque is to be made payable to and for how much. If your account has a passbook, please enclose this with the letter to ensure that it is updated accordingly. We will then post it back to your registered address.

We participate in the Confirmation of Payee (CoP) scheme. The CoP scheme is designed to reduce fraud and prevent payments from being sent to the wrong accounts, by requiring name checks to be carried out between bank or building society accounts.

When you set up a new nominated linked account, we will ask the account provider to check that the name on the nominated linked account matches your name. If the information does not match, we will ask you for proof that the proposed nominated linked account is in your name before you can add it.

For further information on Confirmation of Payee please visit UK Finance or Pay UK.

Whether you’re a new or existing customer, we need to confirm your identity when you open a new account with us. This is so that we can meet UK Money Laundering regulations to help stop criminals from using financial products or services for their own benefit. We only ask for enough information to allow us to open your account. We may also ask for documentation to prove ownership of your linked nominated bank or building society account.

If you’ve been asked to provide your identity, you can view information about which documents you will need to send to us to prove your identity and/or residency.

An identity check will not affect your credit history or future applications for credit as is not a credit search. This is a check against publicly available records and credit records using an electronic authentication system.

This search is performed on receipt of your account opening form. For the majority of applicants, we will be able to confirm your identity and address this way. This also prevents us requesting sensitive documents from you through the post where possible.

Please see the HMRC website for further information regarding this.

All Manchester Building Society accounts are designed for savings and as a result there is no facility to have bills paid directly from your account. You may withdraw your funds (depending on your account terms and conditions) to pay your bills.

Yes, in order for a third party transaction to be processed an Authority to Withdraw form is required and must be completed by the account holder(s). A letter of authority from the account holder can be accepted, but only if it contains the same amount of detail as the Authority to Withdraw form. Proof of identification will be required for the third party making the transaction. Withdrawals in cash are limited to £100, but there is no stated limit for cheque withdrawals.

Following the transaction, both the passbook/card and the cheque must be retained in the branch and sent out to the customer on the same day, a letter will also be sent out to the customer with these confirming the full details of the transaction. These are security measures to protect our members.