NatWest's online banking and mobile app are back online after a service outage.
The high street bank’s retail and business banking customers had been unable to instantly access their current and savings accounts on Tuesday morning (28 May). The source of the issue has not yet been disclosed.
It means as many as 10 million customers may have been unable to instantly access their accounts. NatWest has apologised for the outage. Other NatWest Group brands, including the Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, have been unaffected.
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It comes as the banking giant is in the midst of a major digital transition, with its brands set to shutter more than 50 high street branches in 2024. The government is lining up a sell-off of its remaining stake in NatWest, with the proposed move likely to take place as early as June.
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Digital banking issues 'resolved', NatWest says
Between 5.40am and 9.30am on Tuesday, retail and business customers who tried to log into the NatWest online banking portal or mobile app were greeted with an error message.
But, in an update, the bank said the issue has now been fixed. Its spokesperson said: "We are aware that some customers were experiencing difficulties accessing NatWest mobile and online banking this morning. The issue has been resolved and customers are now able to log in as normal. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused."
NatWest has previously stated that around 10 million customers use its mobile banking app. The issue that hit the bank may have affected even more people given the figure does not cover online banking users.
Those attempting to log into their bank accounts on Tuesday morning were met with a message that said: "Something went wrong". This was followed by text which read: “We’re sorry, some kind of error has occurred when trying to establish a connection between your device and ourselves.”
People were then told to close the app and try again. However, according to the bank’s ‘service status’ page, NatWest’s digital services are down. The bank initially encouraged its customers to use telephone banking or visit a branch.
