And Mikael Armstrong, claims this is because of his opposition to the £2.9bn deal, which would create the second-largest mortgage lender in the UK.
He thinks the members who own Swindon-based Nationwide should have a vote in a decision which he thinks will be bad for members.
He set up a petition with over 5,000 votes, delivered it to Nationwide HQ in Pipers Way, and heads the Give Nationwide Members a Vote campaign.
He said: “My name is probably not the most the most popular in the eyes of management. They would probably rather I did not exist.
Nationwide’s ethos ‘flushed down the toilet’ with £2.9bn takeover bid
“I cannot believe that all this is a coincidence which would have arrived even if I had not been running this campaign.
“I just think it looks highly suspicious.”
Mikael, a Newbury IT engineer who has been a Nationwide member for 25 years, warns that merging the IT systems of the two organisations would be expensive.
His petition says the purchase is at 40 per cent above Virgin Money’s market value and the money would be better invested in Nationwide’s own services.
Mikael’s accounts were frozen in December 2023 – before the Virgin bid was announced in March.
In documents seen by the Advertiser, he was then told in March his accounts would be closed permanently in three months with, Mikael says, no explanation.
Two months before the planned closure date, he says his accounts were frozen again in April and remain that way.
“Why would I suddenly be such a pariah to Nationwide that I could not carry out my notice period when my financial situation hadn’t changed?”, asked Mikael.
Nationwide says the freeze is “to carry out a review of [his] accounts” and the building society requested financial information from Mikael – which he says he has already provided.
Nationwide is due for its AGM on July 17 when its directors are up for re-election. Due to the action, Mikael cannot attend the meeting.
While Nationwide looks set to go ahead with the acquisition, Armstrong is encouraging members to vote against the current leaders.
The takeover has already been approved by Virgin Money’s shareholders.
Nationwide does not discuss details of individual customers.
A spokesperson said: “Nationwide does not close accounts due to someone expressing lawful opinions and is unaware of any occasion where accounts were closed purely because of someone’s political comments or opinions.
“We can confirm we are meeting our legal and regulatory obligations.”
