Nationwide Roll Number: Do You Still Need One?

Short answer: most Nationwide accounts don't have a roll number at all. Nationwide has moved almost everything onto an ordinary 6-digit sort code and 8-digit account number, so if a form asks for a roll number, you can usually leave that box empty.

The exception is a small number of older savings accounts, which still carry a roll-number style reference that looks something like 1234/123456789.

Here's how to tell which you have, and exactly what to enter.

Paying into a building society account? Pick the provider below for the details to use.

---

Key takeaways

• Nationwide has largely retired roll numbers — most members now have a standard sort code and 8-digit account number.
• Some older savings accounts still use a roll-number reference, written in the format 1234/123456789.
• If a payment form has a roll number box and you don't have one, leave it blank: the sort code and account number are enough.
• Your details are in the Nationwide app or internet bank, on a statement, and inside a passbook cover if you have one.

---

Does Nationwide use roll numbers?

Mostly, no — not any more. Like most building societies, Nationwide has moved to the same system banks use: a 6-digit sort code and an 8-digit account number. That's what you give someone to pay you, and it's what a transfer form actually needs.

Roll numbers are a hangover from how building societies worked before that standardisation. A few older Nationwide savings accounts kept theirs, which is why the term still comes up — and why members who've held an account for years may remember one.

How to tell whether you have one

Open the Nationwide app or internet bank and look at your account details:

• You see a sort code and an 8-digit account number — that's everything you need. There's no roll number to find.
• You see a longer reference like 1234/123456789 — that's the roll-number style reference, and it's the one to quote as the payment reference.

If you still have a passbook, the reference is traditionally printed inside the front cover.

What to put on a payment form

This is where people get stuck, and it's simpler than it looks:

• A form with sort code and account number boxes — fill those in from your own account details.
• A form that also has a roll number box — leave it blank, unless you actually have one of the older references.
• Paying into your own Nationwide account — use your sort code and account number as normal.

Nothing is missing if you have no roll number. A blank box is the correct answer, not an incomplete form.

Roll number vs account number

They aren't the same thing, and the difference is worth knowing:

• The sort code identifies the bank or building society.
• The account number identifies your specific account.
• A roll number was a building society's own internal reference, from before the sort code and account number system became universal.

Where a roll number does still exist, it normally goes in the payment reference field rather than the account number field. For the wider picture, see our guide to building society roll numbers.

What happens if you get it wrong

This is the real worry behind the question, and the honest answer is that it is usually recoverable.

If a roll number is needed and you leave it out, the payment normally still reaches the building society — but it arrives at a central account with nothing to identify whose it is. It then sits unallocated until someone matches it up, which can take days rather than hours. It is not lost; it is just unattached.

If you put a roll number where the account number should go, the payment will normally be rejected outright and bounce back, because the digits will not pass the account number checks. An outright rejection is the better outcome — you find out immediately.

If money does go astray, contact the society first with the date, amount and where it was sent from. Under the Payment Systems Regulator's rules, banks and building societies are expected to help trace a misdirected payment rather than leave you to it.

Confirmation of Payee and roll numbers

Since 2020, most UK payments run a Confirmation of Payee check: before the money moves, the sending bank compares the name you typed against the name on the receiving account and warns you if they do not match.

Roll-number accounts sit awkwardly with this. Where a society uses a head-office collection account with your roll number as the reference, there may be no individual account name for the check to compare against — so instead of a clean "match" you can get "unable to check", or a name that does not look like yours.

That warning is not necessarily a sign anything is wrong. It is worth knowing in advance, because the natural reaction is to abandon the payment. If you get an unexpected Confirmation of Payee result on a building society account, check the details with the society rather than assuming a scam — and equally, never let an expected warning make you casual about the ones that matter.

Why building societies used roll numbers at all

Building societies predate the modern banking system. They ran their own membership ledgers long before sort codes and account numbers were standardised across the industry, and a roll number was simply your entry in that ledger — your position on the roll of members.

When societies later plugged into the national payments system, many kept those legacy references rather than renumbering every member, which is why a roll number often looks nothing like a bank account number and why the format differs from one society to another.

Nationwide has largely moved past this, which is why most members today have no roll number to find. Some smaller societies still use them, and our guide to building society roll numbers covers who does.

Other details people get asked for

If someone is paying you, they need your name, sort code and account number — see what bank details are needed to receive money. The name on the account catches people out more often than the numbers do, which is covered in what the account name is for a bank account.

Money coming from abroad is different again: you'll need your IBAN and Nationwide's SWIFT/BIC code.

Frequently asked questions

What is my Nationwide roll number?

Most Nationwide accounts don't have one — you'll have a sort code and an 8-digit account number instead. If you hold an older savings account, the roll-number reference looks like 1234/123456789 and appears in the app, on a statement, or inside a passbook cover.

What do I put in the roll number box for Nationwide?

Leave it blank, unless your account genuinely has one of the older references. For the vast majority of Nationwide accounts, the sort code and account number are all that's required.

Is a Nationwide roll number the same as an account number?

No. The account number identifies your account within the modern system; a roll number was the society's own internal reference from before that system. Where one exists, it's normally used as the payment reference.

Where do I find my Nationwide sort code and account number?

In the Nationwide app or internet bank under your account details, on any statement, and on your debit card if it's a current account.

Does Nationwide still issue roll numbers?

No. New accounts are opened with a sort code and account number. Only some longstanding savings accounts still carry the older reference.

---

More on roll numbers: what a building society roll number is · how to find yours · does Lloyds have one? · Yorkshire · Skipton

General information only. Account details vary by product — check yours in the Nationwide app or on a statement, and confirm with Nationwide before sending a payment if anything is unclear.