NatWest Group

Is NatWest safe?

Yes, for money in a NatWest, RBS or Ulster Bank account. NatWest Group had a CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary of 13.2% at 30 June 2026, almost three points above the 10.3% level at which regulators would restrict its dividends, and its liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary averaged 140%. UK deposits are covered by the FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary to £120,000 per person per licence. The score of 68/100 reflects what happened before: the largest bank rescue of the 2008 crisis and a 2021 criminal conviction for money-laundering failures.

The bank that used to be RBS

NatWest Group is the old Royal Bank of Scotland Group, renamed in 2020. In October 2008, after its takeover of ABN AMRO, RBS ran short of capital and the government stepped in. Over 2008 and 2009 it put in £45.5 billion, and its stake peaked at 84.4%. The bank also needed a state insurance scheme for its riskiest assets and spent a decade shrinking its investment bank and international business.

Getting the state out took 17 years. The Treasury sold through share placings, buybacks by NatWest itself and a trading plan, and the last shares went on 30 May 2025. The government says about £35 billion came back, roughly £10.5 billion less than it invested. That history is why stability scores 25 here, against 45 for Lloyds, which also took state capital but paid it back by 2017.

Today's NatWest is a very different bank: mostly UK retail, commercial and private banking, with a small markets arm. In 2026 it bought the wealth manager Evelyn Partners, which took about 1.4 points off its CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary.

Capital, ratings and funding

Measure (30 June 2026)	NatWest Group
CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary	13.2%
MDA thresholdMDA thresholdThe capital level below which a bank must limit dividends, bonuses and some bond payments. The gap above it shows how much room the bank has.More in the glossary	10.3%
Total capital ratio	18.9%
UK leverage ratioLeverage ratioA bank's Tier 1 capital divided by its total exposures, without adjusting for risk. It is a simple backstop to risk-based capital rules.More in the glossary	4.7%
Average LCRLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary	140%
Loan-to-deposit ratio	90%

In May 2026 Fitch raised National Westminster Bank Plc and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc to AA, with a stable outlook, under its new bank rating criteria. That is among the stronger bank ratings on this site.

Funding is the one area where NatWest differs from Lloyds. Of £448.6 billion of customer deposits, about £202 billion sit in retail banking and £204 billion in commercial and institutional banking. Company deposits tend to be larger and less often fully insured, so they can move faster in a scare. NatWest offsets this with £152 billion of primary liquidity, nearly half of it cash, and an LCR £44 billion above the minimum.

The money-laundering conviction

In December 2021 NatWest became the first bank prosecuted by the FCA under the money laundering regulations. Between 2012 and 2016 a Bradford jewellery business, Fowler Oldfield, paid in about £365 million, around £264 million of it in cash. Staff flagged musty-smelling notes and Scottish banknotes paid in across England, but no proper action followed, and the bank had been told the customer would not handle cash. NatWest pleaded guilty and was fined £264.8 million. The judge said the bank was not complicit but was "functionally vital" to the laundering.

The conviction did not put depositors at risk, but it is the main reason conduct scores 45, below Barclays at 50. In 2023 the closure of Nigel Farage's account at Coutts also led to the resignation of the group's chief executive.

App and online banking outages

NatWest's IT record still carries the memory of June 2012, when a failed software update at RBS left millions of NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank customers unable to make or receive payments for days. The more recent picture is better but not clean. When the Treasury Committee collected outage data from nine large lenders in early 2025, NatWest reported paying £348,000 in compensation for incidents between January 2023 and February 2025. On 6 June 2025 an update rolled out the night before locked thousands of app users out for several hours on a Friday morning.

How to protect your money at NatWest

1. Count NatWest and Ulster Bank as one bank for FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary purposes. Royal Bank of Scotland is separate, so £120,000 at each is covered.
2. If you hold savings at Coutts or used to bank with Sainsbury's Bank, check the FCA register or ask which licence your account sits under.
3. Keep a working debit card from an unconnected bank such as HSBC for outage days, and turn on payment notifications.
4. Report suspected scams at once. UK banks must generally refund authorised push payment scam victims up to £85,000, but delays make it harder.

How we scored it

Liquidity (86), deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary (85) and capital (80) are strong, helped by the AA rating from Fitch. Stability history (25) is held down by the RBS rescue and the £10.5 billion loss to taxpayers, and conduct (45) by the 2021 criminal fine.