For the third year running, the independent organisation Defaqto gave Advantage Gold their 5 Star rating for product features, benefits and charges (February 2011).
- Mobile phone insurance – save up to £155
Covers loss, theft and accidental/malicious damage of handsets up to a maximum retail value of £1000 (including VAT). You're also covered for unauthorised calls up to £1500 (including VAT) per claim for monthly contract phones and £100 (including VAT) per claim for pay-as-you-go.
Own an iPhone or PDA? It's protected too. You can even protect up to two mobile phones if you have a joint account. Cover commences 14 days after registration.
- Car breakdown cover – save up to £69
Relax in the knowledge that Green Flag are there to help if your car breaks down. Can't start your car in the morning or broken down near home? Homecall comes as standard.
- An additional 10% off your first year's car insurance premium – save up to £54. Subject to a minimum premium.
NatWest car insurance is already good value. This extra money discount on your first year's premium helps you save even more.
- Travel insurance: annual family worldwide cover – save up to £160
Receive UK and worldwide multi-trip travel insurance for you, your spouse or partner and any children aged under 18 years of age if they are unmarried (or aged 23 or under if in full-time education), permanently residing with the account holder.
Receive five star defaqto cover including winter sports. Benefits include up to £10m cover for medical and emergency expenses, plus up to £500 cover for personal money.
Children are only covered when travelling with an adult insured under this Policy. Members and their partners aged 70 years and over must pay an additional annual premium of £50.
If you have an existing medical condition you may have to pay an annual premium or accept your cover may exclude certain conditions.
- Travel service: save up to 10% – save up to £191
Thomas Cook Travel Service gives you discounts on big name package tours, car hire, flight transfers and more. There are no credit card or booking fees, helping you to save even more.
- Preferential rates on travel money – save up to £20
Special rates on your foreign banknotes and travellers cheques delivered to your home (or local branch) at no extra cost.
- Hotel discounts – save up to £68
Enjoy discounts of up to 60% at over 21,000 hotels in 3,500 locations around the world - from 5 Star luxury accommodation to budget hotels.
- 20% discount on family days out – save up to £34
Money off the entrance fees at over 200 UK attractions, from London Zoo to Edinburgh Dungeon.
- Identity theft protection – save up to £69
Up to £5000 of cover against expenses incurred in defending and restoring your credit status after fraudulent activity, designed to cover the expenses involved in putting things right if you've been the victim of identity fraud.
- Accidental Death Insurance – save up to £18
You can enjoy the reassurance of knowing that if you were to die in an accident, your next of kin will automatically receive £15,000.
- Emergency cash
Lost your card or had it stolen? Call us anytime and we'll give you a code to withdraw up to £300 from your bank account - without a card – from any of our UK cash machines. You need to have enough money in your account to cover the withdrawal.
You need to be an online or telephone banking customer to withdraw up to £300. If not you can withdraw up to £60 only. You must have at least £25 in your account to use this service.
- Extended warranty – save up to £80
Add 12 months' cover on top of the manufacturers’ one or two year guarantee on up to six home electrical items. From TVs to fridges, just pay with your NatWest debit or credit card and register within 90 days. We can even extend the warranty with further years at a tailored rate.
- Full banking facilities
- Overdraft (subject to eligibility) - extra breathing space for your finances
- Visa debit card – worldwide acceptance with added online security protection
- Standing order and direct debits – helping you pay bills easily
- Cheque book – for added flexibility
- Personal loans overdrafts and mortgages
Get access to tailored rates on loans and preferential rates on overdrafts. Look out for our mortgage offer for Advantage Gold customers.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
- Savings at tailored rates
The Advantage Reserve Savings Account is our high rate, instant access option, offering preferential rates for Advantage Gold customers. The more you save, the more you'll earn. Minimum balance of £2,000.
- Credit Cards
Advantage Gold customers will get an initial 1% discount on their APR for at least 12 months. Rates variable. Representative 15.9% APR (variable).
Upgrade to a Black Account
Our top account includes longer trip lengths on travel insurance, Worldwide Airport Lounge Access, an extra two phones covered on Mobile Phone Insurance, our best Green Flag rescue service, two homes covered under Home Emergency and a host of other top benefits. All for £24 a month.
Potential Savings
| Account Benefit | Save up to |
|---|---|
| 5 Star Defaqto Rated Travel Insurance | £160 |
| Mobile Phone Insurance | £155 |
| Identity Theft Protection | £69 |
| £15,000 Accidental Death Insurance | £18 |
| Extended Warranty | £80 |
| Preferential rates and complimentary delivery on commission free travel money | £20 |
| Advantage Gold Travel Service with Thomas Cook | £191 |
| Gold Hotels | £68 |
| 20% off attractions with Privilege Card | £34 |
| Car Breakdown Cover | £69 |
| Total Value | £864 |
| Annual Account fee (A monthly fee of just £12.95) | £155.40 |
| Save up to | £708 |
Credit Cards
Existing Credit Card customers are not eligible for this offer.
Home, Car & Travel Insurance
Underwritten by UK Insurance Limited. Conditions apply.
Extended Warranty Insurance
Underwritten by Domestic & General Insurance PLC.
Accidental Death Insurance
Underwritten by ACE European Group Limited. Registered in England Number 1112892, Head Office 100 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 3BP. Authorised and regulated by the Financial services Authority (FSA), registration number FRN202803.
Mobile Phone Insurance
Saving based on the Vodafone Cover Me plan at £12.99 per month (February 2012). This cover has been arranged for NatWest by Homecare Insurance Limited. (registered in England number 2793290). Homecare Insurance Limited is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Firm Reference Number 202880.
Identity Theft Protection
Example based on Sentinel Identity Theft Protection, provided by AIG UK Limited. AIG UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. AIG UK Limited is a member company of American International Group Inc. (AIG). The product is administered on behalf of National Westminster Bank Plc by Affinion International Limited. Affinion International Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in respect of insurance mediation activities only. Affinion International Limited' FSA registered number is 311584 AIG UK Limited.
Telephone and online banking
System updates may mean that the services are unavailable for short periods in the early hours of the morning.
Savings Examples
Travel Insurance
Saving based on annual multi-trip worldwide family NatWest Travel Insurance with winter sports cover worth up to £160, with no pre-existing medical conditions and all family members under 70, provided by U K Insurance Limited (February 2012).
Mobile Phone Insurance
Saving based on the Vodafone Cover Me plan at £12.99 per month (February 2012).
Identity Theft Protection
Saving based on Sentinel Identity Theft Protection (February 2012).
Travel Service with Thomas Cook
Saving based on a family packaged holiday to Corfu for 2 adults and 2 children. Departing from London Gatwick on 17 Sept 2012 and staying 14 nights at the Corfu Panorama Fam Hotel on an All Inclusive basis. Price before discount is £1,911 – 10% discount is £191.10. Price after discount is: £1,719.90 including free child place (February 2012)
Extended Warranty
Saving based on purchase of Domestic and General Insurance of 1 year’s additional extended warranty on a Samsung LCD television with a value up to £749.99 (February 2012).
Travel Money
Saving based on preferential exchange rates, 0% commission and complimentary home delivery for: one short break with £400 currency (worth £2 + £5 saving on home delivery); and one holiday with £800 of currency and £300 of commission free travellers’ cheques (worth £10 + £3 saving on sterling travellers’ cheques commission) (February 2012)
Accidental Death Insurance
Saving based on accidental death cover up to £15,000. Save £18 based on Aviva £1.99 per month, providing £20,000 worth of cover (February 2012).
Attractions/Days Out Privilege Card
Saving based on 2 Adults and 2 Children receiving a 20% discount when visiting 2 attractions a year, where the standard ticket price is £24 and £18.60 respectively (e.g. London Dungeon 2012) (February 2012).
Car Breakdown Cover
Saving based on Green Flag Level 2 Cover for a 40 year old male, living in Leeds, driving a 2003 Ford Fiesta – £69.96 (February 2012).
Gold Hotels
Saving based on a 3 night stay for two adults at Le Littre - Montparnasse Hotel, Paris, France on a bed and breakfast basis. Saving for the hotel is £68.40 (February 2012).
The examples are for illustrative purposes only. The savings shown are representative of those that could be achieved by opening an Advantage Gold Account.
This page provides a summary of the rates and charges that apply to NatWest current accounts.
Full copies of the fees and interest rates, and terms and conditions that apply to our personal accounts can be downloaded from our terms and conditions page.
You may need Adobe Reader to view some of these documents. Get Adobe Reader. Visit access.adobe.com.
We also have a separate page providing an update on unarranged overdraft charges.
Common definitions
Throughout this page, you'll see various terms being used. Here's what they mean:
- Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) - this is a notional rate used for interest bearing accounts which illustrates what the gross credit interest rate (excluding any bonus interest payable) would be if paid and compounded on an annual basis. It helps you to compare the effective rates of credit interest on different accounts.
- Effective Annual Rate of Interest (EAR) - this is the real annual cost of an overdraft, stated as an annual rate, which takes into account how often interest is charged to the account. All other charges, such as arrangement fees, must be shown separately from the EAR.
- Gross Rate - this means the interest rate you are paid before the deduction of income tax.
- Net Rate - this means the interest rate you are paid after the deduction of income tax.
- Nominal Rate - the rate charged excluding compounding of interest and other charges associated with a borrowing, e.g. arrangement and security fees.
- p.a. - per annum (per year).
Account fees
Monthly account fees are payable on the following accounts. Account includes access to all the benefits listed in the appropriate brochures and user guides.
| Type of current account | Account fee |
|---|---|
| Advantage Gold | £12.95 per month. Payable from your Advantage Gold account. |
Application of account fees
The account fee for each monthly charging period will be debited from your account 21 days after the end of that charging period (or on the next business day if this is a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday). The fee will appear on your statement as ‘CHG’. The charging period normally ends on the date that we issue your statement to you.
Interest due on arranged overdrafts
1. Arranged overdrafts
If you have arranged an overdraft facility with us in advance and you use this facility within the thresholds shown below, you will not pay any interest.
If the amount you overdraw under an arranged overdraft facility exceeds these thresholds, you will pay interest at the rates shown in the tables below on the overdrawn balance – even the part of the balance which is within any interest free threshold that applies to your account. However, we will not charge interest on any part of the overdrawn balance which is an unarranged overdraft or represents fees, charges or costs of the kind described in section 7 of our leaflet: Personal and Private Banking - A Guide to Fees and Interest (PDF, 685KB) under the heading Sums which do not bear interest.
If you have arranged an overdraft facility with us in advance under which you pay interest at a rate other than the rates shown in the tables below, the interest free thresholds shown below will not apply to your account.
Interest free thresholds
| Type of current account | Interest free threshold |
|---|---|
| Advantage Gold | £100 |
Current rates
The following rates are effective from 02 August 2010
| Type of current account | Nominal monthly rate% | Nominal annual rate % | EAR % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advantage Gold Credit Zone Overdrafts | |||
| All amounts | 1.49 | 17.94 | 19.49 |
We'll arrange a Credit Zone Overdraft, depending on your circumstances. Your overdraft may be subject to an arrangement fee.
Our unarranged borrowing fees will apply if you borrow over your arranged limit. Please see the 'Charges' section below for details.
Previous rates
The following previous rates were effective from 28 April 2008
| Type of current account | Previous nominal monthly rate% | Previous nominal annual rate % | Previous EAR % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advantage Gold Credit Zone Overdrafts | |||
| All amounts | 1.42 | 17.09 | 18.49 |
2. Unarranged overdrafts
With effect from 01 February 2011, we do not charge debit interest on unarranged overdrafts
Previous Rates
The following previous rates were effective from 02 August 2010
| Type of current account | Previous Nominal monthly rate % | Previous Nominal annual rate % | Previous EAR % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advantage Gold | 1.49 | 17.94 | 19.49 |
Calculation and application of interest
Interest on arranged overdrafts is calculated on a daily basis and charged monthly.
The interest we charge in each charging period will be debited from your account 21 days after the end of that charging period (or on the next business day if this is a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday). The charging period normally ends on the date that we issue your statement to you. If we are going to debit interest from your account, we will give you not less than 14 days’ notice of how much we are going to debit and when.
Sums which do not bear interest
We do not charge interest on unarranged overdrafts. Nor do we charge interest on any part of an arranged overdraft which represents:
- a Default Notice Fee or other sum (apart from interest) you must pay us in connection with a breach of your obligations under your agreement with us; or
- a Returned Item Fee or Unarranged Overdraft Fee (see section 7 of our leaflet Personal and Private Banking - A Guide to Fees and Interest (PDF, 486KB) for details of these charges).
Arranged Overdrafts, Unarranged Overdrafts, Returned Items and Enforcement Charges
The charges shown in this section do not normally apply to the other accounts we offer to Personal and Private Banking customers. However, we sometimes allow other accounts to be operated in a way which enables the customer to give instructions for a withdrawal or other payment which cannot be met from the funds in the account. If this happens, the charges listed below in the sub-section "Unarranged overdrafts and returned items – charges" will apply.
Arranged overdrafts – arrangement and renewal fees
| Fee payable | |
|---|---|
| Current Account, Current Plus, Private Bank Account and Advantage Gold | |
| Credit Zone Overdrafts up to and including £7,500, where interest is charged at the standard Credit Zone Overdraft rate | No fee |
| Credit Zone Overdrafts over £7,500 or Credit Zone Overdrafts where an interest rate other than the standard Credit Zone Overdraft rate is payable | 2% of the new limit (minimum £30) |
| Temporary or increased facilities for all customers | |
| If you wish to increase an existing facility at any time contact your Private Banking Manager or your branch. Any fees payable will be advised to you at that time. | |
Unarranged overdrafts and returned items – charges
Act Now Alerts
Our Act Now Alerts can help you stay in control and minimise or even avoid fees for unarranged overdrafts and returned items. They specify the time by which you should credit your account with cleared funds to cover all payments and/or to bring your account back into credit or within any arranged overdraft limit. Find out more about Act Now Alerts.
If we are going to charge you an Unarranged Overdraft Fee and/or a Returned Item Fee, we will give you not less than 14 days' notice of how much we are going to charge you and when.
Unarranged Overdraft Fee
An Unarranged Overdraft Fee will be charged for each day on which there is an unarranged overdraft of greater than £6 on your account at close of business on that day. Please note: we will only charge an Unarranged Overdraft Fee for a non-business day (i.e. a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday) if there is an unarranged overdraft of greater than £6 owing on your account at close of business on the first following business day.
When charged
21 days after the end of the charging period (or the next business day if this is a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday). The charging period normally ends on the date that we issue your statement to you.
Fee Amount
£6 for each day for which an Unarranged Overdraft Fee is payable.
Returned Item Fee
A Returned Item Fee will be charged if:
- you informally request an unarranged overdraft by issuing instructions for a withdrawal or other payment; and
- the payment cannot be met from the funds in your account or any unused arranged overdraft facility; and
- we decide in our discretion not to make the payment.
When charged
21 days after the end of the charging period in which we decide not to make the payment (or the next business day if this is a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday). The charging period normally ends on the date that we issue your statement to you.
Fee amount
£6 for each returned item (subject to a maximum of £60 in any charging period).
Making an informal request for an unarranged overdraft means you will normally have to pay a Returned Item Fee and/or an Unarranged Overdraft Fee. Please note that it is possible to incur both a Returned Item Fee and an Unarranged Overdraft Fee on your account on the same day or as a result of a single transaction (for example, where we take a Returned Item Fee from your account and this creates an unarranged overdraft of greater than £6 on your account).
For examples showing how our charges work, please see the section headed Unarranged Overdrafts and Returned Items in our leaflet Our Commitment to You (PDF, 685KB).
Enforcement Charges
| Enforcement | ||
|---|---|---|
| A Default Notice Fee will be payable if we need to serve a default notice on you (for example, if you fail to repay your overdraft on demand or we wish to enforce any security we hold). This is in addition to any other charges that may apply. | Within four days of the Default Notice being served. | £30 per notice |
Additional services
| Stopping payment instructions | |
|---|---|
| Stopping a cheque (unless it has been lost or stolen) | £10 |
| Payments | |
|---|---|
| Obtaining a banker's draft | £12 |
| Obtain a special cheque clearance | £15 |
| CHAPS payments | £23 - between banks £21 - between our branches |
| Obtaining copies of statements | £5 per request |
| FlexiLoan arrangement fee | 2% of amount borrowed (minimum fee £100 |
| Emergency Cash Service | Any fees payable will be advised at the time |
| Safe Custody | |
|---|---|
| Annual Holding Charges (payable annually in arrears) | |
|
|
| Initial and subsequent re-deposit(s) | £10 |
Annual Holding Charges are applied in arrears so any withdrawal made prior to the anniversary of the deposit will incur a pro-rated amount of the annual charge. In addition, a £10 fee will be charged for initial deposits and any re-deposits following item inspection or temporary release. The charges set out above are inclusive of VAT.
Please note that we only accept new items into Safe Custody for our Private Banking customers. Items already held by us in safe custody will continue to be held.
If the service you are looking for is not shown in the table above, please ask at any branch or call the number on your statement summary sheet.
We’re here to help. All our staff are committed to doing just that. And we want to make sure you’re satisfied at all times with the help and guidance we give you.
1) Your satisfaction with the quality of our service will be an essential part of how we reward our staff.
2) Our branch staff will be accredited by the Chartered Bankers’ Institute to ensure they have the right knowledge to help you.
3) If we make a mistake we will apologise and fix it, quickly and fairly.
Tell us what you think. Go to Ideas Bank.
Life's full of surprises and they’re not always pleasant ones. We're here to help you as quickly as possible when things go wrong
4) We will refund money lost from your account if we find you have been a victim of banking fraud.
5) We will provide you with a free emergency cash service if your debit card is lost or stolen, and send you a new card the next day.
6) We will be proactive in doing what we can to help customers who may be facing financial difficulty.
Tell us what you think. Go to Ideas Bank.
Whether you want to talk to us in person, on the phone, or choose to do your banking online we aim to make sure your banking experience is as efficient and helpful as possible.
7) We will serve 90% of customers in five minutes or less in our branches.
8) We will answer at least 90% of customer calls in less than a minute, from our UK-based telephone centres, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
9) We will continue to offer new and innovative mobile banking services that make banking faster and more convenient, wherever you are.
Tell us what you think. Go to Ideas Bank.
Communities are important, when they thrive we all benefit. That’s why we remain committed to supporting communities across the country.
10) We pledge to maintain banking services wherever we are the last bank in town, that is where the nearest alternative bank is more than 1 mile away.
11) We will provide every secondary school pupil with access to MoneySense, our financial education programme.
12) We will continue to offer all our staff a day of paid leave to help projects in their local community.
Tell us what you think. Go to Ideas Bank.
And you'll be the judge
We will continue to publish a report every six months to let you see how well we have fulfilled our commitments and identify additional areas which need improvement. It will also include a full range of customer comments.
Important information
Full copies of the fees and interest rates, and terms and conditions that apply to our personal accounts can be downloaded from our terms and conditions page.
The account fee for Advantage Gold is £12.95 a month. Advantage Gold is a packaged service of which the core element is a current account without which the remainder of Advantage Gold benefits are unavailable. Over 18s only. Calls may be recorded. Information correct as at March 2008.
The examples are for illustration purposes only and are not based on actual NatWest customers.
The savings shown are representative of those that can be achieved by holding a NatWest Advantage Gold account in comparison to a NatWest Current Plus account.
Full details of all benefits and how to access them will be available in your Advantage Gold handbook.
For further details on our insurance products, please refer to your insurance policy summaries:
Important Information - Advantage Guarantee
If you open your Advantage Account on or after 7 May 2009, you will be eligible to benefit from our Advantage Guarantee.
If you use any of the Advantage Account benefits within 60 days of your account being opened and are not satisfied within that 60 day period, we will refund all account fees you have paid for your Advantage Account in the first 60 days of account opening.
We reserve the right to change or withdraw the Advantage Guarantee at any time without giving you prior notice.
To claim a refund please call our freephone helpline 0800 408 0337 (minicom 0870 600 0856).
Lines are open 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm Saturdays. Max call charge from a BT landline is 8p plus up to 6p per minute. Calls from other networks may vary. Calls may be recorded.
Mortgages
Provided by National Westminster Home Loans Ltd. Special rates are not available on Buy-to-let Mortgages or for extra borrowing.
Personal Loans
Rates are dependent on your circumstances and loan amount. Different discounts may apply during special promotions.
Travel Insurance
All customers over 70 must contact the Advantage Gold Travel Insurance screening service. On this line, we will ask for additional information in relation to pre-existing medical conditions. An annual premium of £50 will be charged per account. More details are available in your insurance policy summaries.
Advantage Gold Travel Service is operated by Thomas Cook
10% guaranteed discount across all Thomas Cook Tour Operations product (Thomas Cook, Sunset, Thomas Cook Signature, Style, Club 18-30, Neilson, Flexible Trips, Airtours, Cresta, Bridge, Panorama and Manos) and Virgin Holidays.
A 7% discount applies to all holidays with all other tour operators (excluding Thomson and First Choice where a 5% discount applies).
Discount must be applied at the time of booking. Thomas Cook booking conditions apply.
All discounts apply in addition to any discount given to Thomas Cook by the tour operator, but not to any price you may obtain directly from a tour operator.
Discount does not apply to Thomas Cook Tours Palmair Holidays, SAGA Cruises, travel insurance, ski packs, fuel supplements or airport passenger duty.
These discounts only apply to holidays booked via the Advantage Gold Travel Service with Thomas Cook and not via any other part of Thomas Cook (e.g. Thomas Cook shops or www.thomascook.com).
All credit card charges will be waived.
Holidays and other offers are subject to availability and tour operator booking conditions. Offers can be withdrawn or amended without notice. The latest version of these are available at any time on request from the Advantage Gold Travel Service with Thomas Cook. NatWest reserves the right to vary or amend these conditions at any time. Thomas Cook customers and Booking Terms and Conditions and all relevant suppliers, including but not limited to airlines, tour operators, hotels, car rental companies, ferry operators, other providers of accommodation, leisure attractions and other third party' offering, organising or carrying out any travel arrangements or other offers (‘Suppliers') will also apply to the booking. All offers are subject to availability and in certain circumstances additional conditions may apply, where possible these will appear in the offer details. You are advised to enquire about any conditions that might apply prior to or at the time of booking. Some offers are subject to minimum and maximum stay restrictions. Travel arrangements and other offers in connection with this programme are only available to NatWest Advantage Gold customers. Except as may be expressly set out in booking conditions, all tickets and other arrangements and bookings are non-refundable and non-transferable. If you change or cancel your reservations or travel arrangements at any time after we have accepted your booking, then your tour operator, other supplier, or failing that, the booking agent will impose alteration or cancellation charges.
The Advantage Gold Travel Service is operated by Thomas Cook Retail Ltd, ABTA 29653, acting as agent to ATOL protected tour operators.
Please also read our website terms and conditions which cover your use of this website.
Other account options
You can apply for an Advantage Gold Account for Private Banking customers if you earn at least £100,000, or £150,000 joint annual income for a joint account, or have savings of at least £50,000 with us.
If you don’t meet these criteria, we offer a wide range of other current accounts.
Get in touch
Become a Private Banking customer
Existing customers
0845 305 0600*
*Minicom 0845 900 5961. Max call charge from a BT landline is 8p plus 4p per minute. Calls from other networks may vary.
Calls may be recorded.