National Westminster Bank Plc, commonly known as NatWest, is the largest retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom and has been part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc since 2000. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is ranked as the second largest bank in the world by assets. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank . Traditionally considered one of the Big Four clearing banks, NatWest has a large network of 1,600 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. The bank can trace its roots back to 1650 with the foundation of Smith's of Nottingham. The creation of the modern bank was announced in 1968 and National Westminster Bank Limited commenced trading on 1 January 1970, after the statutory process of integration had been completed in 1969.
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