NatWest down: Online banking app not working in major outage

NatWest’s online banking app has broken in what appears to be a major outage.

Customers reported they were unable to log in and instead shown an error message telling them to try using the website. An “error has occurred”, the message read, alongside a statement that NatWest is “working hard getting everything back up and running for you”.

NatWest says that “over 10 million customers” use its mobile banking app to access their account “every day”.

The bank said on Twitter/X that it was aware of the issue and working to resolve it. “Our team are looking into this as a matter of urgency,” it said.

“We do not have a timescale at present as to when it will be resolved,” Natwest told customers.

In response, customers warned that they had been unable to undertake important travel or buy things as planned.

Some customers found they were able to log in through the website instead of the app. When logging in, the website asks for a code that is usually sent to the app – but the bank said that it should be possible to ask for a text instead, which will do the same job.

It also advised people to call the number on the back of their card if they needed to urgently transfer funds.

The problems started around 9am local UK time, according to tracking website Down Detector. The issues appear to have been reported right across the country.

NatWest says it is making a number of improvements to its app “over the coming months”, with the aim of making it more personalised.