Nat West Bank – Quick Stats

Type – Public Limited Company
Industry – Financial Services
Founded – 1968
Headquarters – 135 Bishopsgate,London EC2M 3UR
Key people – Sir Philip Hampton, Chairman,Stephen Hester, Chief Executive
Products – Banking and Insurance
Employees – 33,300
Parent – Royal Bank of Scotland Group
Subsidiaries – National Westminster Home Loans, National Westminster Life Assurance
Website – www.natwest.com

Current Operations

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc operates internationally through its two principal subsidiaries, the Royal Bank (in Scotland) and NatWest (in England and Wales). The NatWest group of companies comprises National Westminster Bank Plc and its subsidiary and associated undertakings. The principal subsidiary undertakings of the bank today are:

• Coutts & Co., part of RBS Group Wealth Management, incorporating RBS Coutts Bank (formerly Coutts Bank von Ernst) Ltd. trading as RBS Coutts International in Switzerland;
• RBS Securities Inc., previously Greenwich Capital Markets Inc., broker-dealer, trading as RBS Greenwich Capital (formerly Greenwich NatWest) in the US; and
• Ulster Bank Limited, incorporating, from 2001, Ulster Bank Ireland Ltd. in the Republic of Ireland.

Until 2003 National Westminster Bank was a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, now the ultimate holding company. In January 2003 ownership of the bank’s entire issued ordinary share capital was transferred from the ultimate holding company to The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, as holding company. At that time the entire issued share capital of Lombard North Central Plc was transferred by the bank to the holding company.

Ownership of National Westminster Home Loans Limited was passed to the holding company in December 2005. In December 2000 the bank transferred National Westminster Life Assurance Limited to RBS Life Investments Limited, effectively establishing the business as a joint venture between the Group and Norwich Union.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group comprises the ultimate holding company and its subsidiary and associated undertakings. The Group is structured into the following main operating areas:

• Retail Markets, providing a broad range of retail services across different brands and channels to personal and small business customers;
• Corporate Markets, a leading banking partner to UK commercial customers and major corporations and governmental institutions around the world, providing an extensive range of debt, risk and investment services;
• RBS Insurance, the second-largest general insurer in the UK, with brands including Direct Line, Churchill and Green Flag;
• Ulster Bank Group, incorporating the former First Active Plc in the Republic of Ireland; and
• Citizens Financial Group, which provides retail and corporate banking services across 13 states in the northeastern and midwestern US, with a retail and commercial presence in more than 30 other states.

Natwest Bank UK Services

Traditionally considered one of the Big Four clearing banks, National Westminster Bank has a large network of 1,600 branches and 3,400 cash machines across Great Britain and offers 24-hour Actionline telephone and online banking services. Today it has more than 7.5 million personal customers and 850,000 small business accounts. In Northern Ireland it operates through its Ulster Bank subsidiary.

In 2006 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group undertook the first trial of PayPass contactless debit and credit cards in Europe. These can be used to pay for purchases under £10 by tapping an enabled card on the retailer’s terminal.

From autumn 2009, NatWest Bank and RBS are migrating debit cards from Maestro and Solo to Visa Debit. The bank participates fully in the Faster Payments Service, an initiative to speed up certain payments, launched in 2008.

Established in 1989, Streamline is the leading provider of merchant accounts in Europe, giving businesses the ability to accept credit and debit card payments and handling around half of all such transactions. In 2009 it was merged into RBS WorldPay.

The bank is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the Association for Payment Clearing Services and of the British Bankers’ Association; it subscribes to the Banking Code and Business Banking Code.

Mortgages, available in England, Scotland and Wales only, are provided by National Westminster Home Loans Limited, a member of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the NatWest One account (The One Account) is a secured personal account with the Royal Bank of Scotland Plc.

NatWest Bank 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 the Polish language. In 2005 it announced the reintroduction of a mobile banking service, providing banking facilities to remote communities in Cornwall. 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.

For more information on services including NatWest Personal bank services Nat West ISA, Nat West Cash ISA, Routing Numbers, Piggy Banks, Sort Codes, Natwest Bank online Account Banking or for Nat West Bank online visit the official Nat West Bank website.