NatWest App Meltdown Sparks Outrage, Raises Questions on Banking Reliability
Hey everyone, I want to talk about something that’s been making waves today — especially if you're a NatWest customer. So, here’s the situation: NatWest just went through a major app outage that left thousands, possibly millions, of people completely locked out of their accounts. And no, this wasn’t just a glitch — this lasted for several hours on a busy Friday morning, and it genuinely impacted people's daily lives.
It all kicked off around 9:10 AM UK time, with users flooding Downdetector and social media to say they couldn’t log in to the mobile app. Some couldn’t make payments, others couldn’t transfer funds, and quite a few people said they had to walk away from shopping checkouts or were left unable to pay employees. Just imagine needing to move money urgently, and your bank app just... doesn’t work.
Now, NatWest did issue an apology and said the issue has been resolved. They claimed online and telephone banking were still working, but many customers say that wasn’t entirely true. Some posted screenshots of error messages even on the web-based system. The frustration was clear. And honestly, it’s understandable — when your financial access is suddenly cut off, especially when you rely heavily on digital banking, it’s not just inconvenient, it's stressful.
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What’s even more frustrating is the bigger picture. This isn't a one-off for the UK banking system. Over the past couple of years, there’s been a series of major IT outages across nearly all the big banks — and NatWest actually tops the list for the most hours lost due to tech failures. In fact, between 2023 and now, they’ve had 194 hours of outages over 13 incidents, paying out £348,000 in compensation. But let’s be real, that doesn’t do much for the everyday customer who couldn’t buy groceries this morning.
This outage reportedly stemmed from an app update pushed out late Thursday — and while it wasn’t a cyberattack, the timing couldn’t be worse. NatWest has been closing physical branches left and right and pushing customers to go digital. More than 80% of their users rely on the app, and 97% of new accounts are now opened online. So when that one lifeline — the mobile app — fails, people have nowhere to turn.
And we’re not just talking inconvenience. As pointed out by consumer advocates like Which?, customers risk missing bill payments, getting hit with overdraft fees, or even damaging their credit. These are real-life consequences from a service that's supposed to be reliable.
So, the question becomes — are banks like NatWest really prepared for a fully digital future? If you’re going to close branches and promote online-only services, then your infrastructure needs to be bulletproof. Right now, that’s clearly not the case.
Hopefully, they’ve fixed the issue for now. But if you’re a NatWest customer, it might be time to seriously think about backup options or at least keep a bit of cash handy — just in case your bank decides to take a digital nap again.
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