Nationwide, the UK's biggest building society has been on the online banking scene for some years now; and is now one of the top online banking sites for high security. If you are a customer for the Nationwide online banking website, then you will know how favorably Nationwide stacks up against other online banking services.

The front page of Nationwide has their main advertisement placed on it along with a little traffic light symbol. Green means that the website is working normally and without any known problems. Yellow means that they have got planned maintenance underway, but you can still use the website. And red means that you cannot use the online banking website at the moment due to detected problems.

One of Nationwide's advantages over its competition is their strict sign in policy and questions. When you first sign up, you must enter a memorable date, a memorable place and a memorable name. When you are finished signing up, Nationwide will post you your secret six-digit pass number and customer number. Once you have all this information, you can sign in and check your accounts.

You must enter your customer number, one piece of your memorable information to enter. And then you will see that they require 3 digits of your pass number, which Nationwide will choose whether they want your 1st number along with your 3rd and 5th digits or a different combination. These are some of the tightest security measures you will find on any online banking site.

The main disadvantage that many customers have noticed is that it can be hard to access the other pieces of information. Canceling a check or sorting out your direct debits is easy, but trying to get a loan or applying for a mortgage can be difficult. All the information is there, but it is hard to find by simply navigating the Nationwide site.

There is also a convenient inbox where you can receive emails from Nationwide about planned maintenance--or where you can send an email to the customer service center when you have a problem.

Overall, if you value security over the ease of use of the website, then Nationwide is the online banking service for you.