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 Business Bank companies with a turnover of up to £25m. The bank does not lend to SMEs directly, but instead works with other financial institutions to increase access to funding, such as by providing part-guarantees for loans. After the January 2018 liquidation of Carillion threatened thousands of suppliers, particularly SMEs, £100m of lending was offered by the British Business Bank, alongside a fund established by HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank. The business bank came under criticism from rebuildingsociety.com for its execution of the Funding for Lending scheme, where it has created unfair competition in the UK peer-to-peer lending industry