 | |
 NatWest's headquarters at 250 Bishopsgate in theCity of London | |
| NatWest | |
| Formerly | National Westminster Bank Limited (1968–1981)[1] |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Predecessor | |
| Founded | 18 March 1968; 57 years ago (1968-03-18)[1] |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Key people | |
| Products |
|
| Parent | NatWest Holdings[2] |
| Subsidiaries | Coutts |
| Website | natwest |
National Westminster Bank,[3] commonly known asNatWest,[4] is a majorretail andcommercial bank in theUnited Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by themerger ofNational Provincial Bank andWestminster Bank. In 2000, it became part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which was re-namedNatWest Group in 2020. Followingringfencing of the group's core domestic business, the bank became a direct subsidiary ofNatWest Holdings;NatWest Markets comprises the non-ringfencedinvestment banking arm.NatWest International is a trading name of RBS International, which also sits outside the ringfence.
Between 2008 and 2025, the UK government held a stake in NatWest Group following its £45 billion ($61.87 billion) bailout of the lender which led to it owning 84 per cent at one point.[5][6][7] The bank returned to full private ownership on 30 May 2025 after 17 years.[8]
NatWest is considered one of theBig Fourclearing banks in the UK,[9] and it has a large network of over 526branches[10] and 3,400cash machines acrossGreat Britain and offers 24-hourActionline telephone andonline banking services. Today, it has more than 7.5 million personal customers and 850,000 small business accounts. InNorthern Ireland, it operates through theUlster Bank brand.
The bank's origins date back to 1658 with the foundation ofSmith's Bank ofNottingham.[11] Its oldest direct corporate ancestor,National Provincial Bank, was formed in 1833 as the National Provincial Bank of England. It merged with Union of London and Smith's Bank in 1918 to become National Provincial and Union Bank, shortening its name in 1924.[12]District Bank (formed in 1829 as the Manchester and Liverpool District Banking Company) was acquired by National Provincial in 1962 and allowed to operate under its own name.[13]Westminster Bank was formed in 1834 as London and Westminster Bank. It merged with London and County Bank in 1909 to become London County and Westminster Bank and with Parr's Bank in 1918 to become London County Westminster and Parrs Bank, shortening its name in 1923.[14]
The creation of the modern bank was announced in 1968 and commenced trading on 1 January 1970 after the statutory process of integration had been completed in 1969.[15] The three arrowheads device was adopted as the new bank's logo; it is said to symbolise either the circulation of money in the financial system or the bank's three constituents.[16] The District, National Provincial and Westminster banks were fully integrated in the new firm's structure, but private bankersCoutts & Co (a 1920 National Provincial acquisition, established 1692),Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland (a 1917 Westminster acquisition, established 1836) and theIsle of Man Bank (a 1961 National Provincial acquisition, established 1865) continued as separate operations. Westminster Foreign Bank (established 1913) was restyledInternational Westminster Bank in 1973. Duncan Stirling, outgoing chairman of Westminster Bank, became first chairman of the fifth-largest bank in the world.[17] In 1969 David Robarts, former chairman of National Provincial, assumed Stirling's position.[18] In 1975 it was one of the first London banks to open a representative office inScotland. It was a founder member of the Joint Credit Card Company (withLloyds Bank,Midland Bank andWilliams & Glyn's Bank) which launched theAccess credit card (now part ofMastercard) in 1972 and in 1976 it introduced theServicetill cash machine. The same banks, excluding Lloyds, were later responsible for the introduction of theSwitchdebit card (later brandedMaestro) in 1988.[19]
Deregulation in the 1980s, culminating in theBig Bang in 1986, also encouraged the bank to enter the securities business. County Bank, itsmerchant banking subsidiary formed in 1965, acquired variousstockbroking and jobbing firms to create the investment banking armCounty NatWest.[20] National Westminster Home Loans was established in 1980 and other initiatives included the launch of the Piggy Account for children in 1983, the Credit Zone, a flexible overdraft facility on which customers only pay interest (now commonplace, this so-calledpink debt was innovative when launched) and the development of theMondexelectronic purse (later sold to MasterCard Worldwide) in 1990.[21]The Action Bank advertising campaign spearheaded a new marketing-led approach to business development. Under the direction ofRobin Leigh-Pemberton, who became chairman in 1977, the bank also expanded internationally, formingNational Westminster Bancorp in the United States of America with a network of 340 branches across two states,National Westminster Bank of Canada and NatWest Australia Bank; and opening branches on the European continent and in the Far East.[22] In 1982, theFrankfurt office of International Westminster Bank merged with Global Bank AG to form Deutsche Westminster Bank. In 1985,Banco NatWest España was formed and National Westminster Bank SA was incorporated in 1988, taking over the bank's six branches in France andMonaco. In 1989, International Westminster Bank was merged into National Westminster Bank by Act of Parliament.[23]
Completed in 1980, the bank built the National Westminster Tower (now known asTower 42) in London to serve as its international headquarters. At a height of 600 feet (183 m) it was the tallest building in the UK until the topping-out ofCanary Wharf Tower 10 years later;[24] its footprint loosely approximating the bank's logo when viewed from the air,[25] although the architect claimed the similarity was coincidence.[26] Also worthy of note isNational Westminster House (since renamed as 103 Colmore Row) inBirmingham: the building was sold toBritish Land in 2007[27] and demolished in 2015.
The bank was hit by thestock market crash of 1987 and involvement in the collapse ofBlue Arrow.[28] TheDepartment of Trade and Industry report on the affair was critical of the bank's management and resulted in the resignation of several members of the board, including then-chairmanLord Boardman.[29] Later, the bank would divest its overseas subsidiaries. The North American operations were sold toFleet Bank andHong Kong Bank of Canada, and the Australian and New Zealand branches were sold toSalomon Smith Barney and theNational Australia Bank.[30] Thereafter the bank concentrated on its core domestic business as the restyled NatWest Group, reflecting its modern positioning as a portfolio of businesses.[31] In the1993 Bishopsgate bombing, theNatWest Tower was devastated by aProvisional IRA bomb and the bank vacated the building and later sold it.[32] Then, in 1997,NatWest Markets, the corporate andinvestment banking arm formed in 1992, revealed that a £50 million ($67.75 million) loss had been discovered, revised to £90.5 million ($122.62 million) after further investigations. Investor and shareholder confidence was so badly shaken that theBank of England had to instruct the board of directors to resist calls for the resignation of its most senior executives in an effort to draw a line under the affair.[33] The bank's internal controls and risk management were severely criticised in 2000 and its aggressive push into investment banking questioned, after a lengthy investigation by the Securities and Futures Authority.[34] The bank's move into complicated derivative products that it did not fully understand seemed to indicate poor management. By the end of 1997 parts of NatWest Markets had been sold, others becomingGreenwich NatWest in 1998.[35][36] It had purchased Gleacher Partners in 1996 for $135 million only to resell it back to GP's founder for just $4 million 3 years later in 1999.[37][38]
In 1999, the chairman,Lord Alexander of Weedon, announced a merger withLegal & General in a friendly £10.7 billion deal, the first between abank and an insurance company in UK history.[40] The move was poorly received in the London financial markets and NatWest's share price fell substantially.[41] Seen as a driver of the ill-advised investment banking expansion,Derek Wanless was forced to resign as chief executive following the appointment of Sir David Rowland (who became executive chairman).[42] Also in 1999, in response to the much reduced NatWest market capitalisation, the much smallerBank of Scotland made a hostile takeover bid for NatWest. The Bank of Scotland's aim was to break up the NatWest Group and dispose of its non-retail assets. NatWest was forced to abandon its merger, but refused to agree to a takeover by a rival bank.[43] TheRoyal Bank of Scotland tabled another hostile offer, of £21 billion, outbidding the Bank of Scotland.[44] The takeover of NatWest in early 2000 was the biggest in UK history. Once Britain's most profitable bank, it was delisted from theLondon Stock Exchange and became, with its subsidiaries, component parts of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.[45] The outcome of this bitter struggle set the tone for a round of consolidation in the financial sector as it prepared for a new age of fierce global competition.[46] The Royal Bank of Scotland Group became the second-largest bank in the UK and Europe (afterHSBC) and the fifth-largest in the world bymarket capitalisation. According toForbes Global 2000, it was then the 13th-largest company in the world.[47] NatWest was retained as a distinct brand with its ownbanking licence, but many back office functions were merged with those of the Royal Bank, leading to over 18,000 job losses.
In 2008, it was announced thatHM Government would take a stake of up to 58% in the Royal Bank of Scotland in a move aimed at recapitalising the group.HM Treasury subscribed for £5 billion in preference shares and underwrote the issuance of £15bn of new ordinary shares offered to RBS shareholders and new institutional shareholders at the fixed price of 65.5p.[48] As a consequence of the mismanagement that necessitated this rescue, the chief executive,Fred Goodwin (who secured the takeover of NatWest), offered his resignation, which was duly accepted. ChairmanTom McKillop also confirmed he would stand down from that role when his contract expired in 2009. Goodwin was replaced byStephen Hester, previously chief executive of British Land.
In 2009, the RBS Group announced that it would divest all 311 RBS branches in England and Wales (known as Williams & Glyn's until 1985) together with the seven NatWest branches in Scotland as a standalone business, to comply withEuropean Commission state aid requirements.[49][50] In August 2010, it was announced that the branches would be sold toSantander UK, along with the accounts of 1.8 million personal customers and 244,000 SME customers.[51] Santander withdrew from the sale in October 2012.[52] On 27 September 2013, the RBS Group confirmed it had agreed to sell 308 RBS branches in England and Wales and 6 NatWest branches in Scotland to the Corsair consortium. This figure was reduced to 307 by May 2015.[53] The branches were to have been separated from the group in 2016 as a standalone business operating under the previously dormant Williams & Glyn brand.[54]
In August 2016, RBS cancelled its plan to spin off Williams & Glyn as a separate business, stating that the new bank could not survive independently. It revealed it would instead seek to sell the division to another bank.[55] In February 2017, HM Treasury and the European Commission reached a provisional agreement in which RBS would be able to retain the Williams & Glyn assets in return for investing £750 million into a fund aimed at increasing SME lending by challenger banks and for RBS agreeing to allow SME customers of challenger banks to use its branch network for cash and cheque handling.[56] The European Commission confirmed in April 2017 that it would scrutinise the proposal.[57]
On 3 May 2021, the business of Ulster Bank Limited in Northern Ireland was transferred to National Westminster Bank as part of a court-approved Banking Business Transfer Scheme.[58]
In June 2024, NatWest announced it had agreed a deal to acquire the majority ofSainsbury's Bank.[59][60] The deal will see the company acquire one million customers, £2.5 billion of customer assets and £2.6 billion of customer deposits.[59] NatWest will receive £125 million from the deal upon completion in the first half of 2025.[59] In 2024, NatWest also entered into an agreement with Metro Bank plc ("Metro Bank") to acquire a £2.5 billion portfolio of prime UK residential mortgages, with a weighted average current loan to value of c.62%.[61]
In November 2024, the bank bought back £1 billion of its own shares from the UK Treasury, reducing the British government’s stake to 11.4 per cent from 14.81 per cent.[6] It acquired 263 million shares at 380.8p each.[6]
NatWest Group operates internationally through its four principal subsidiaries:NatWest Holdings which owns The Royal Bank of Scotland, National Westminster Bank and Ulster Bank Ireland DAC;NatWest Markets; NatWest Markets N.V.; and TheRoyal Bank of Scotland International. The NatWest sub-group of companies comprises National Westminster Bank and its subsidiary and associated undertakings.[63] As of 2023[update], the principal subsidiary undertakings of NatWest are:
Structurally, National Westminster Bank was a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group until 2003, when ownership of the bank's entire issued ordinary share capital was transferred to The Royal Bank of Scotland as holding company, with RBS Group functioning as ultimate holding company. At the same time the entire issued share capital ofLombard North Central was transferred by the bank to the holding company,[65] transferring back to NatWest in 2017. Ownership of National Westminster Home Loans was passed to the holding company in 2005;[66] however, the mortgage portfolio and related funding were also transferred back to NatWest in 2012.[67] In 2000, the bank transferred National Westminster Life Assurance to RBS Life Investments, effectively establishing the business as a joint venture between the Group andNorwich Union.[68] In 2018, ownership of both NatWest and the Royal Bank transferred to NatWest Holdings and NatWest became the main provider of shared services and Treasury activities for the RBS Group.[69] On 14 February 2020, it was announced that RBS Group would be renamed NatWest Group later that year, taking the brand under which the majority of its business was delivered.[70][71] The change became effective on 22 July.[72]
The following have served as chairmen of National Westminster Bank:
| Tenure | Incumbent |
|---|---|
| 1968–1969 | Duncan Stirling[73] |
| 1969–1971 | David Robarts[74] |
| 1971–1977 | Sir John Prideaux[75] |
| 1977–1983 | Robin Leigh-Pemberton, later the Lord Kingsdown[76] |
| 1983–1989 | TheLord Boardman[77] |
| 1989–1999 | TheLord Alexander of Weedon[78] |
| 1999–2000 | Sir David Rowland[79] |
The office is currently heldex officio by the chair of NatWest Group.
NatWest provide a full range of banking and insurance services to personal, business and commercial customers, including the first dedicated bank account in Britain to be delivered and supported entirely in thePolish language. The bank has won Your Mortgage Magazine's Best Bank for Mortgages award 13 times in the last 17 years, more than any other lender.[80]
Operating under the name Esme Loans, NatWest provided a digital lending platform for SMEs also available to customers not banking with NatWest or RBS.[81] Esme Loans commenced trading on 17 February 2017, after being founded out of the bank's new product development programme NatWest Innovation Cell by Richard Kerton, Veronika Lovett, and Lucy Hasson.[82] Esme loans was closed in 2021.[83]
The bank operates "mobile branches" using converted vans to serve rural areas around St Austell, Swansea, Carlisle, Devon and North Wales.[84][85] The service allows to customers to carry out banking transactions in remote areas where there is no branch. NatWest reintroduced the mobile service in Cornwall in 2005, after HSBC ended its own version due to costs.[citation needed]
In 2006, the then RBS Group undertook the first trial ofPayPasscontactless debit and credit cards in Europe.[86] In 2019, a NatWest pilot project was the first in the UK to trial debit cards containing fingerprint authentication technology developed by Dutch company,Gemalto.[87]
The bank participates fully in theFaster Payments Service, an initiative to speed up certain payments, launched in 2008.[88] The bank established credit and debit card payment handling company Streamline in 1989, which was merged intoWorldpay Group in 2009.[89] The NatWest Mobile Banking app is available to personal account holders over the age of 11 with online banking, a debit card and UK mobile telephone number (beginning 07). The Emergency Cash service gives access to cash without a debit card from NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank cash machines.[90]
NatWest is a member of theCheque and Credit Clearing Company,Bankers' Automated Clearing Services, theClearing House Automated Payment System and theLINK Interchange Network. The bank is authorised by thePrudential Regulation Authority and regulated by both theFinancial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.[91] It is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service, theFinancial Services Compensation Scheme,UK Payments Administration and of theBritish Bankers' Association; and it subscribes to theLending Code.Mortgages, available in England, Scotland and Wales only, are provided by National Westminster Home Loans, a member of theCouncil of Mortgage Lenders,[92]
TheNatWest One account is a secured personal account with the Royal Bank of Scotland.
NatWest Insurance Services acts as intermediary and broker for general insurance, policies are underwritten by UK Insurance Limited. Life Protector and Guaranteed Bond products are provided by National Westminster Life Assurance.[93]
The Royal Bank of Scotland International trades as NatWest International inJersey,Guernsey, theIsle of Man andGibraltar. In 2010, RBS Intermediary Partners was renamed NatWest Intermediary Solutions.[94]
National Westminster Bank use the following series of six digitsorting codes formatted into three pairs separated by hyphens:
| Range | Note |
|---|---|
| 01 | FormerDistrict Bank |
| 50-00 to 59–99 | FormerNational Provincial Bank |
| 55–91 | In use byIsle of Man Bank |
| 60-00 to 66–99 | FormerWestminster Bank |
| 18 | For use ofCoutts & Co. |
| 98 | For use ofUlster Bank |
International Bank Account Numbers take the formGBxx NWBK ssss ssaa aaaa aa, wherex refers to twocheck digits,s to the branch sort code anda to the individual account number. TheBank Identifier Code, orSWIFT code, for NatWest (andIsle of Man Bank) is NWBKGB2L (8 digits) or NWBKGB2Lxxx (11 digits).
Bó, a standalone digital banking app with the aim of helping people save more money was launched in November 2019[95] and discontinued in May 2020.[96]
Mettle is an e-money business account provided by Prepay Solutions, a trading name of Prepay Technologies Ltd.
NatWest also entered the merchant acquiring market by introducing Tyl in 2019.[97] The proposition includes next business day settlement for card transactions.
The so-calledNatWest Three—Giles Darby, David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew—were extradited to the United States in 2006 on charges relating to a transaction withEnron Corporation in 2000 while they were working for Greenwich NatWest.[98] It has been argued that the alleged crime was committed by British citizens living in the UK against a British company based in London[99] and therefore, any resulting criminal case falls under the jurisdiction of the English courts.[100] However, theSerious Fraud Office decided not to prosecute due to lack of evidence.[101] There has been criticism that the Americans do not have to produce a prima facie case, or even a reasonable one, to extradite British citizens,[102] whereas no such facility exists to extradite US citizens to the UK.[103] On 28 November 2007 the three admitted one charge ofwire fraud after aplea bargain.[104] On 22 February 2008 they were each sentenced to 37 months in prison.[105]
Following discussions between theOffice of Fair Trading, theFinancial Ombudsman Service, theFinancial Services Authority and the major banks, proceedings were issued on 27 July 2007 in atest case against the banks to determine the legality and enforceability of certain charges relating to unauthorised overdrafts. It is argued that these are contrary to theUnfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999; Schedule 2(e) of which gives a non-exhaustive list of terms which may be regarded as unfair, such as a term requiring a consumer who fails in his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation.[106] Penalty charges are irrecoverable atcommon law. The precedent for this wasDunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. v New Garage and Motor Co. Ltd. [1915] AC 79 along withMurray v Leisure Play [2005] EWCA Civ 963, where it was held that a contractual party can only recover damages for an actual loss or liquidated losses.[107] The RBS Group maintained that its charges were fair and enforceable and stated it intended to defend its position vigorously.[108] On 24 April 2008, theHigh Court found that although these charges could not constitute penalties, they are challengeable under theUnfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.[109] On 26 February 2009, theCourt of Appeal ruled that fees for unauthorised overdrafts and bounced cheques are subject to regulation by the OFT under these rules.[110]
In September 2009, NatWest announced dramatic cuts in their overdraft fees. The unpaid item fee was reduced to £5 from £38 and the card misuse fee was reduced from £35 to £15.[111] The cuts came at a time when the row over the legality of unauthorised borrowing, estimated to earn current account providers about £2.6 billion a year, had reached theHouse of Lords.[112]
In late June 2012, the group suffered a major computer malfunction,[113] resulting in some customers' account balances not updating correctly.[114] Completions of some new home purchases were delayed,[115] customers were stranded abroad, and one man was held in prison.[116] As a result of the error, RBS and NatWest announced that over 1,200 of their busiest branches would extend their hours throughout the week, including the bank's first Sunday opening, to enable the customers affected to access cash.[117] On 25 June, over 1,000 branches opened for extended hours,[117] and the number of phone staff was doubled.[118]
Some customers also reported problems with direct debits and standing orders being returned unpaid due to their account balances not updating correctly. However, RBS stated in an announcement that they would work directly with the receiving banks and companies to ensure that all payments were processed. As a result of the system outage, RBS also announced that they would work with credit rating agencies directly to ensure no customer's credit file was permanently impacted. They also announced that no customer would be permanently out of pocket because of the system outage, and launched a dedicated new freephone helpline for the incident, as well as an online help point to guide and advise customers with any queries they had during the outage.[119]
In December 2013, a similar computer failure led to a number of customers being unable to use NatWest card services to pay for goods. This second major outage of services fell on what is known asCyber Monday, when major retailers discount goods to boost Christmas shopping. The Group chief executive at the time conceded that the bank would have "to do better".[120]
On 20 March 2017, the British paperThe Guardian reported that hundreds of banks had helped launderKGB-related funds out of Russia, as uncovered by an investigation namedGlobal Laundromat. NatWest was listed among the 17 banks in the UK that were "facing questions over what they knew about the international scheme and why they did not turn away suspicious money transfers," as the bank processed $1.1 million in Laundromat cash. Other banks facing scrutiny under the investigation includedHSBC, theRoyal Bank of Scotland,Lloyds Bank,Barclays andCoutts.[121]
In December 2021, the bank was convicted atWestminster Magistrates' Court of three counts of failing to comply with anti–money laundering regulations, marking the first time that theFinancial Conduct Authority had pursued criminal charges against a financial institution for failings in combating money laundering. NatWest pleaded guilty to the three counts, which concerned a jewelers, Fowler Oldfield, depositing £365 million between 2012 and 2016 of which £264 million was in cash, despite predicted annual turnover of £15 million. FCA lawyers stated that large volumes of cash were deposited in blackbin bags, and that the quantity of notes failed to fit within the branch vaults.[122]
In a statement, a spokesman for the Financial Conduct Authority said "'NatWest is responsible for a catalogue of failures in the way it monitored and scrutinised transactions that were self-evidently suspicious. Combined with serious systems failures, like the treatment of cash deposits as cheques, these failures created an open door for money laundering."[123]
The nameNatWest has been associated withcricket tournaments held in England. From 1981 until 2000, the bank was the title sponsor of English domestic cricket's mainlimited overs knockout tournament, which was known as theNatWest Trophy during that period. Between 2000 and 2013, theNatWest Series was an annualone-day international tournament involvingEngland and two visiting international teams. NatWest was also a main sponsor of the1999 Cricket World Cup, held in England. Since May 2017, it has been the shirt sponsor for the England men's and women's cricket teams.[124]The bank also sponsoredEngland's Test series against Pakistan in 2018.
NatWest is sponsor of the Southern Paintball League, the leading competitive paintball series in the south of England.
NatWest was the main sponsor of theIsland Games (known at the time as the NatWest Island Games) from 1999 through to 2019.
NatWest CommunityForce is "a platform that empowers local projects and charities to raise awareness of their work and make their plans a reality with the support of NatWest and their local community."[125]
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