There are those amongst us that carry the flag 
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2026
Main - NatWest - head and shoulders above the rest in app and banking offer, only thing missing is fee free foreign spend at the reward account level.
Backup - Nationwide - clean crisp app, gives £100 a year for a few simple hoops jumped.
Other - HSBC for the GMA
Credit Cards - NatWest and Lloyds. I must say the Lloyds app is an eye bleeding cluttered mess, will be gone after the CC deal ends.
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NatWest is my favourite old school bank as well. Their app is the best around IMO, even if their legacy systems struggle with 2026 features (like taking hours/overnight to produce a virtual card).
I believe pots are coming soon as well.
It would be great if they got rid of the foreign transactions fees (including ATMs) and increased the ATM limit to £500.
Even if they only got rid of the fees on the reward account, it would make me happier (despite the fact I have travel reward card and basically use this all the time anyway).
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Agreed.
I used the Travel Reward credit card in a few countries in Asia with no issues recently. You don’t need to tell them you’re going abroad with that card either (there’s no option in the app or website either) unlike the current account or other credit cards.
The Reward Silver account and above do have fee free foreign spend, if you didn’t know.
I’ve used my standard Rewards credit card abroad without issue, without telling them (did get charged fx fees though)
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NatWest is very good for a high street bank, however it doesn’t show pending direct debits and everything takes at least two days to clear.
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I think it’s more free ATM usage rather than spending that would be beneficial, especially as the Travel Reward card is free to use at point of purchase abroad.
The Travel Reward card doesn’t have the ability to let them know you’re going abroad, unlike the other credit cards (screenshot below of Rewards and ‘The NatWest Card’, both free to use abroad).
I did question them about this and they replied saying the Travel Reward card is built around being used abroad so they don’t allow telling them where you’re going, whether that’s true or not… maybe it’s something to do with visa/mastercard. Regardless I’ve used it across multiple countries and never had a block
It does if you go into the direct debit section of the app - dates and amounts are updated the working day before.
It would be nice if they’d show them in the list of transactions, though, like HSBC.
Is it just me that is well aware of what direct debits I have coming out, when and how much? I don’t need to see upcoming DDs
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I’m less bothered about direct debits than other transactions but would still rather know beforehand when they’re coming out than not know.
An example being I’ve got a Virgin Money credit card with a direct debits setup to take the minimum by direct debit. I pay the card in full by bank transfer, and it’s entirely a random surprise what they take by direct debit depending on what I spend on my credit card up to the day or two before it’s claimed.
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I do because some of my direct debits change month by month, for example credit card payments.
It’s down to the individual but I prefer to see the amounts at least a day before, if not a few days before. It’s just a personal preference for me.
I didn’t know you could see the amounts within the NatWest direct debits page but if they update that, why not display them in the transaction list
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I pay my credit card in full, but also have a DD setup. They never take a DD payment though as it’s already paid in full.
Thats great if you’re with a credit card company that operates that way like NatWest and Barclaycard but Virgin Atlantic (Virgin Money) credit cards work differently. I pay my full credit card statement by bank transfer the day it’s produced, but they still take a direct debit payment (setup for the minimum), that’s worked out on a percentage of what you’ve spent since paying off the full balance.
I did contemplate cancelling the direct debit but knowing my luck it’ll be the one time something happens and I forget/don’t manage to pay the statement. I prefer having a minimum direct debit just in case.
No, I’m on top of this too but I do like the confirmation of exactly when a DD is being collected and for how much.
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I just add a set amount of money to my bills account by 1st of the month.
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Well yeah this is how I have it. I don’t even look at the joint account really. Money goes in the bills come out
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Following up on my last comment about paying before statement date, I spent on a card on the 13th, statement date is 15th every month and I paid it off within 7 days after the statement date and no direct debit was taken out this month. There must be a window before the DD payment date where they review your balance and decide not to take the DD from you when repayment date is due. It’s so easy to get caught out, too. I got charged interest for a month where I forgot to pay the remainder on the day they took the minimum balance. 
Plus side is my TransUnion was up by a few points (I know it means nothing) for keeping the cards constantly active in the 1%-25% utilisation zone.
It depends on which bank it is too. Some of them do adjust the DD and some don’t
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I’ve “tested” by bringing my balance to above the latest statement to see if they would take my DD and they didn’t, as all purchases go to next month’s statement.
It seems Lloyds have improved their system to avoid rising credit limit by accident.