Banking services disrupted after hardware malfunction causes IT breakdown at NatWest
NatWest Suffers Second Major IT Outage in Less Than a Year
NatWest, one of the UK's largest banks, experienced another major IT outage last night, causing disruptions to mobile banking services for millions of customers. The outage, which resulted from a hardware failure, comes less than a year after a similar incident in June 2022.
Although the exact nature of the hardware failure was not disclosed, the bank has been actively working on improving its technological infrastructure. In August 2025, NatWest announced a five-year collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and consultancy Accenture to accelerate its data and AI transformation, aiming to simplify operations and improve service speed and customer experience.
The outage had a significant impact, as many users were unable to access their accounts via the mobile app during the disruption, affecting their ability to perform cash and banking transactions. The previous IT outage in June 2022 cost the bank at least £175 million, primarily in compensation for affected customers.
NatWest serves over 7.5 million personal customers and 850,000 small businesses primarily through mobile apps, online, and extensive branch and ATM networks. Digital service reliability is, therefore, critically important. The June 2025 outage reveals ongoing risks associated with app updates and IT system transformations.
The outage is part of a wider pattern of digital infrastructure issues experienced by major banks worldwide. Other UK banks such as Lloyds and Barclays also suffered outages earlier in 2025 due to technical problems and third-party vendor failures. The June 2025 NatWest outage underscores the digital challenges banks face while attempting to modernize and compete with fintech firms.
Mervyn King, the former governor of the Bank of England, called for RBS to be split into two divisions in 2013, with one division managing RBS's bad debts, which would be retained by the taxpayer, and the other division free to increase lending. However, King's proposal for RBS's division is not yet implemented.
NatWest issued a statement apologising for the disruption to banking services, but no specific duration for the outage was mentioned. It is not clear if all services were affected simultaneously or in succession, and no information was given about any potential compensation for affected customers. Customers were unable to withdraw cash, use online banking, or use telephone banking services during the outage.
King made this statement during his evidence to the Commons' banking standard committee, expressing his concern over the idea of a bank being 82% owned by the taxpayer, run at arm's length from the government, as a nonsense. Despite the ongoing IT challenges, NatWest's services are reported to be running normally again.
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- The ongoing IT issues at NatWest, as seen in the recent outage and the one in June 2022, have raised questions in the realm of politics about the bank's technological infrastructure and its ability to compete in the rapidly evolving field of fintech.
- As technology continues to play a significant role in the finance industry, news outlets are closely monitoring the repercussions of events like the NatWest outage in June 2025, including their impact on customer service, general news, and the broader financial landscape.
