NatWest UK, and it has a large network of over 960 branches and 3,400 cash machines across Great Britain and offers 24-hour "Actionline" telephone and online banking services. Today, it has more than 7.5 million personal customers and 850,000 small business accounts. In Ireland, it operates through its Ulster Bank subsidiary. In 2017, NatWest was awarded Best Banking App in the British Bank Awards. The bank's origins date back to 1658 with the foundation of Smith's Bank of Nottingham. The creation of the modern bank was announced in 1968, and National Westminster Bank Limited commenced trading on 1 January 1970, after
Director General of Fair Trading v First National Bank plc Director General of Fair Trading v First National Bank plc Director General of Fair Trading v First National Bank plc [2001] UKHL 52 is the leading case on the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. It was an action to test the fairness of clauses in loan agreements which secured a bank's commercial interest rates after a debtor that had defaulted and they had been to court to determine their repayment scheme. The House of Lords held that the clause did not fall within the ambit of reg 6(2) and that it was valid in accordance with the fairness