NatWest
Major UK high-street bank within NatWest Group plc. Full SME lending book covering unsecured term loans, overdrafts, asset finance and commercial mortgages for existing NatWest business banking customers. Female Founders programme adds mentoring rather than relaxed credit criteria. Mainstream criteria: 2+ years trading, clean credit, established Ltd or LLP.
Quick routing verdict
- Product: Business loans, overdrafts, asset finance, commercial mortgages.
- Ticket band: £1k to £500k+ unsecured; larger via secured facilities.
- Decision time: 5 to 15 business days.
- Pricing: From around 7.5% to 12% APR for unsecured term loans.
- FCA-authorised.
At a glance
- Legal entity
- National Westminster Bank plc
- Companies House
- 00929027
- Founded
- 1968
- Product
- Business loans, overdrafts, asset finance, commercial mortgages
- Ticket range
- £1k to £500k+ unsecured; larger via secured facilities
- Decision time
- 5 to 15 business days
- Ltd-only
- Lender accepts other structures, FundBiz routing is Ltd-only
- Last reviewed
- 2026-05-08
Why we route here
- Major UK SME banking presence with relationship managers across regions.
- Full product range plus international trade and Female Founders mentoring.
- Competitive APR for top-tier applicants with existing banking flow.
- FCA / PRA regulation, FSCS protection on linked deposits.
When we route elsewhere
- Hard credit search at application; no soft-search quote.
- Decisions take 5 to 15 business days; longer for £100k+.
- Decline rates high for sub-2-year trading and post-CCJ applicants.
- Sector exclusions standard.
Best fit applicants
- Existing NatWest business banking customers
- Established Ltd / LLP 2+ years trading
- Borrowers wanting a relationship-led mainstream bank
Where NatWest is the wrong fit
- Sub-2-year trading
- Post-decline applicants
- Speed-prioritised cases
If declined by NatWest
If your application to NatWest is declined, the FundBiz post-decline matcher routes by decline reason. Common alternatives in our panel are listed in the "When we route elsewhere" section above. See also our NatWest decline runbook for sector-specific routing detail.
Other panel lenders
- 365 Business Finance, Merchant cash advance
- Aldermore, Asset finance, invoice finance, commercial mortgages
- Allica Bank, SME term loan + commercial mortgage
- Bizcap, Specialist post-decline / fast cash
How we rate NatWest
This review is FundBiz's own editorial assessment, scored against a published framework. See our methodology for how we rate each lender.
Run the matcher
Tell us your turnover, sector and ticket size. We score against NatWest and the wider FundBiz panel, then surface the lenders most likely to approve. Limited companies, LLPs and partnerships of 4+ only.
Open matcher →Last reviewed: 2026-05-08. By Oliver Mackman.