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
British Linen Bank British Linen Bank The British Linen Bank was a commercial bank based in the United Kingdom. It was acquired by the Bank of Scotland in 1969 and served as the establishment's merchant bank arm from 1977 until 1999. The Edinburgh-based British Linen was "the only British bank to be formed on the basis of an industrial charter" and, as the name suggests, its roots lay in the Scottish linen industry. The original driving force behind the formation of the British Linen Company (as it was first named) was Andrew Fletcher, Lord Milton. He was a lawyer landowner, had been active