NatWest Issues Apology After App Outage Affects Millions
Following a recent IT malfunction, NatWest has issued an apology to the numerous customers who found themselves unable to access its mobile application. This disruption is the latest in a series of technological setbacks that have impacted major UK banks.
The disruption started after an app update was deployed late on Thursday. As a result, from early Friday morning around 9 AM, users found themselves unable to log into their accounts using the mobile app.
Impact on Daily Operations
This outage is particularly problematic as more than 10 million customers utilize the NatWest app daily to manage their banking needs. Although the bank confirmed that other services like card payments, in-branch, online, and telephone banking were functioning normally, the mobile app accessibility issue presents a significant inconvenience.
A representative from NatWest stated, “We are aware that customers are experiencing difficulties with accessing the NatWest mobile banking app. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and are working diligently to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Meanwhile, customers can still manage their banking through our online and telephone services, or by visiting any of our branches.”
The timing of the outage coincides with NatWest’s strategic push towards enhancing digital banking experiences while simultaneously reducing the number of physical branches. The bank has announced plans to close an additional 53 branches by 2025, which will leave it with 431 branches nationwide. Last month, NatWest reported that over 80% of its active current account holders were using digital channels for their banking, with 97% of new accounts being opened online.
Broader Concerns Over Bank Resilience
The outage is not believed to be the result of a cyber-attack; however, the focus on banking systems’ robustness has intensified following several attacks on prominent retailers such as Harrods, Co-op, and Marks & Spencer. The scrutiny comes at a time when IT failures have plagued the UK’s largest banks and building societies, cumulatively resulting in over a month of disruptions between January 2023 and February 2025.
This figure does not account for a significant Barclays outage which commenced at the end of January, affecting 56% of online payments during many employees’ payday period. Barclays anticipates compensating customers between £5 million and £7.5 million for the inconvenience and distress caused. Notably, there have been additional disruptions at Barclays since then.
Over the same period, NatWest experienced the highest total downtime due to outages, totaling 194 hours across 13 incidents, with compensation payouts amounting to £348,000. Meanwhile, HSBC encountered 32 incidents leading to 176 hours of disruptions, resulting in compensation of £232,697 to its affected customers.
Jenny Ross, Money editor at Which?, commented on the incident, “As banks encourage us increasingly to depend on apps for everyday banking, any failures can have severe repercussions. In the worst scenarios, affected NatWest customers might miss crucial bill payments, be unable to afford necessary services, or face the risk of overdrafts – all of which could lead to additional penalties or impact their financial reliability and borrowing capabilities.”
Ross emphasized the importance of NatWest keeping customers well-informed and ensuring swift compensation where necessary.
In other news, the UK government recently divested its final shares in NatWest Group, concluding a 17-year period of state ownership initiated by the £45 billion taxpayer-funded bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, when the bank was still known as the Royal Bank of Scotland.
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