NatWest facts for kids
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NatWest's headquarters at 250 Bishopsgate in the City of London
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Trade name
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NatWest |
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Formerly
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National Westminster Bank Limited (1968–1981) |
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| Industry | Financial services |
| Predecessor |
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| Founded | 18 March 1968 |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
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Key people
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| Parent | NatWest Holdings |
| Subsidiaries | Coutts |
National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company, known as NatWest, is a large bank in the United Kingdom. It helps people and businesses with their money. The bank started in 1968 when two banks, National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank, joined together.
In 2000, NatWest became part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. This group changed its name to NatWest Group in 2020. NatWest is now a direct part of NatWest Holdings. NatWest Markets handles investment banking. NatWest International is another part of the group.
The UK government owned a part of NatWest Group for many years. This happened after the bank received help in 2008. The government's ownership ended on May 30, 2025. NatWest is now fully owned by private investors again.
NatWest is one of the "Big Four" banks in the UK. It has many branches and cash machines across Great Britain. It also offers online and phone banking. Over 7.5 million people and 850,000 small businesses use NatWest. In Northern Ireland, it operates as Ulster Bank.
Contents
NatWest's Journey Through Time
NatWest has a long history. Its roots go back to 1658 with Smith's Bank of Nottingham.
How NatWest Began
The main banks that formed NatWest were National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. National Provincial Bank started in 1833. Westminster Bank began in 1834. Another bank, District Bank, joined National Provincial in 1962.
The plan to create NatWest was announced in 1968. The new bank officially started on January 1, 1970. The three arrowheads in the NatWest logo represent the three banks that came together. Some smaller banks, like Coutts & Co, Ulster Bank, and the Isle of Man Bank, continued to operate separately.
NatWest was one of the first banks in London to open an office in Scotland in 1975. It also helped launch the Access credit card in 1972. Later, it introduced the Servicetill cash machine in 1976. In 1988, it helped create the Switch debit card, now known as Maestro.
Growing Bigger in the 1980s
In the 1980s, banking rules changed. This allowed NatWest to get into the securities business. It created an investment banking part called County NatWest. The bank also started National Westminster Home Loans in 1980. It launched the Piggy Account for children in 1983.
NatWest also grew internationally. It formed National Westminster Bancorp in the United States. It also had banks in Canada and Australia. In 1982, it created Deutsche Westminster Bank in Germany. By 1988, it had branches in France and Monaco.
In 1980, NatWest built the National Westminster Tower in London. It was the tallest building in the UK for 10 years. Its shape from above looked a bit like the bank's logo.
Challenges and Changes
NatWest faced some difficulties in the late 1980s and 1990s. After some issues, the bank decided to sell its overseas businesses. Its North American operations were sold to Fleet Bank and Hong Kong Bank of Canada. The Australian and New Zealand branches were also sold.
In 1993, the NatWest Tower was damaged by a bomb. The bank moved out and later sold the building. In 1997, NatWest Markets, the investment banking part, reported a large financial loss. This caused problems for the bank.
Becoming Part of RBS Group
In 1999, NatWest planned to merge with an insurance company called Legal & General. However, this plan did not go well with investors. Soon after, the smaller Bank of Scotland tried to take over NatWest. NatWest refused this offer.
Then, The Royal Bank of Scotland made a bigger offer of £21 billion. In early 2000, The Royal Bank of Scotland successfully took over NatWest. This was the biggest takeover in UK history at the time. NatWest was removed from the London Stock Exchange. It became a part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.
NatWest kept its own brand and banking license. However, many back-office jobs were combined with the Royal Bank, leading to job losses. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group became a very large bank globally.
Recent Developments
In 2008, the UK government took a large share in the Royal Bank of Scotland. This was to help the group financially. The chief executive, Fred Goodwin, resigned.
The RBS Group planned to sell some of its branches in England and Wales. This was to meet rules set by the European Commission. The branches were going to be sold to Santander UK, but that deal fell through. Later, the group agreed to sell them to a group called Corsair. These branches were meant to become a new bank called Williams & Glyn.
However, in 2016, RBS cancelled the plan to create Williams & Glyn. Instead, it looked for another bank to buy the division. In 2017, an agreement was reached. RBS would keep the Williams & Glyn assets. In return, it would invest £750 million to help smaller banks lend more to businesses.
In May 2021, Ulster Bank's business in Northern Ireland moved to National Westminster Bank. In June 2024, NatWest agreed to buy most of Sainsbury's Bank. This deal will add one million customers to NatWest. In 2024, NatWest also bought a large group of home loans from Metro Bank.
In November 2024, NatWest bought back £1 billion of its own shares from the UK Treasury. This reduced the British government's ownership to 11.4 percent. In March 2025, NatWest announced a partnership with OpenAI. This partnership aims to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make banking simpler. The bank plans to improve its chatbot, Cora, and staff assistant, AskArchie. AI has already helped improve customer satisfaction. NatWest sees AI as key to its future, as most customers now bank digitally.
How NatWest is Organized
NatWest Group works internationally through four main parts. These include NatWest Holdings, which owns The Royal Bank of Scotland, National Westminster Bank, and Ulster Bank Ireland DAC. Other parts are NatWest Markets and The Royal Bank of Scotland International.
As of 2023, some of NatWest's main companies are:
- Coutts & Co.
- RBS Invoice Finance
- Lombard North Central
National Westminster Bank was fully owned by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group until 2003. Then, its ownership moved to The Royal Bank of Scotland as a holding company. In 2018, ownership of both NatWest and the Royal Bank moved to NatWest Holdings. NatWest became the main provider of shared services for the group. On February 14, 2020, it was announced that RBS Group would change its name to NatWest Group. This change happened on July 22, 2020.
Here are some of the people who have been chairmen of National Westminster Bank:
| Time Period | Chairman |
|---|---|
| 1968–1969 | Duncan Stirling |
| 1969–1971 | David Robarts |
| 1971–1977 | Sir John Prideaux |
| 1977–1983 | Robin Leigh-Pemberton |
| 1983–1989 | The Lord Boardman |
| 1989–1999 | The Lord Alexander of Weedon |
| 1999–2000 | Sir David Rowland |
Today, the person who chairs NatWest Group also chairs National Westminster Bank.
What NatWest Offers
NatWest offers many banking and insurance services. These are for individuals, businesses, and commercial customers. It even has a bank account in Britain that is fully supported in the Polish language. NatWest has won awards for being the "Best Bank for Mortgages" many times.
NatWest also has a digital lending platform for small and medium-sized businesses called Esme Loans. This service started in 2017.
The bank uses "mobile branches" in converted vans. These vans serve rural areas where there are no physical branches. This allows customers in remote places to do their banking.
In 2006, the RBS Group tested contactless debit and credit cards in Europe. In 2019, NatWest was the first in the UK to test debit cards with fingerprint technology.
NatWest is part of the Faster Payments Service. This service helps make payments quicker. The bank also has a mobile banking app. Its Emergency Cash service lets customers get cash without a debit card from NatWest, RBS, and Ulster Bank cash machines.
NatWest is a member of important banking systems in the UK. These include the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company and Bankers' Automated Clearing Services. The bank is regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. It is also part of the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The NatWest One account is a special personal account with the Royal Bank of Scotland. NatWest Insurance Services helps with general insurance. Life Protector and Guaranteed Bond products are provided by National Westminster Life Assurance.
The Royal Bank of Scotland International operates as NatWest International in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, and Gibraltar.
NatWest uses specific six-digit sorting codes for its branches:
| Range | Note |
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| 01 | Used by the former District Bank |
| 50-00 to 59–99 | Used by the former National Provincial Bank |
| 55–91 | Used by Isle of Man Bank |
| 60-00 to 66–99 | Used by the former Westminster Bank |
| 18 | Used by Coutts & Co. |
| 98 | Used by Ulster Bank |
International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs) for NatWest start with GBxx NWBK. The Bank Identifier Code (SWIFT code) for NatWest is NWBKGB2L.
Bó, a digital banking app, was launched in November 2019 but stopped in May 2020. Mettle is an e-money business account provided by Prepay Solutions. NatWest also started Tyl in 2019 to help businesses handle card payments.
NatWest's Sponsorships
NatWest has often supported cricket tournaments in England. From 1981 to 2000, it sponsored the NatWest Trophy. Between 2000 and 2013, the NatWest Series was an annual international tournament. NatWest also sponsored the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Since May 2017, it has sponsored the shirts of the England men's and women's cricket teams. The bank also sponsored England's Test series against Pakistan in 2018.
NatWest sponsors the Southern Paintball League. This is a competitive paintball series in the south of England.
NatWest was the main sponsor of the Island Games from 1999 to 2019. These games were known as the NatWest Island Games during that time.
NatWest CommunityForce is a program that helps local projects and charities. It helps them raise awareness and get support from NatWest and their local community.
See also
In Spanish: NatWest para niños
- Nestle v National Westminster Bank plc
- Re Spectrum Plus Ltd
- Tournier v National Provincial and Union Bank of England
- Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National plc
