NatWest Group has entered a five-year alliance with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Accenture to enhance its digital, data, and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

This collaboration aims to modernise the bank’s services for its 20 million customers by leveraging cloud and AI technologies.

The initiative is intended to improve customer engagement by providing more personalised and responsive services, utilising the combined expertise of AWS and Accenture in banking and technology.

Additionally, the partnership will focus on developing the skills of NatWest employees, fostering a data-driven culture that enables more efficient customer service.

Accenture chair and CEO Julie Sweet said: “NatWest has a bold vision to use the power of its data to seamlessly tie together its products, channels and customer touchpoints — a major step forward in making banking easier for its customers and providing them with more personalised experiences.”

The collaboration aligns with NatWest’s strategic objectives, which include disciplined growth, bank-wide simplification, and improved risk management.

To achieve disciplined growth, the bank plans to implement advanced data capabilities for relationship managers, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of customer relationships.

This will facilitate seamless communication and real-time engagement, ensuring that customer interactions are personalised and proactive.

In terms of bank-wide simplification, the partnership will accelerate the integration of various data streams into a unified data platform, supported by AI.

This will lead to a more efficient banking experience, including expedited onboarding processes and enhanced operational performance through increased automation.

Furthermore, the collaboration aims to strengthen NatWest’s active balance sheet and risk management by providing better quality data for security measures, improving complaints handling, and enhancing fraud prevention.

The partnership is expected to enable more agile capital management and streamline financial and regulatory reporting through improved data sourcing, according to the company.

NatWest Group CEO Paul Thwaite said: “This collaboration with Accenture and AWS is key to helping us progress the transformation of NatWest as we become a simpler, more technology and data-driven bank.

“Our industry – and the expectations of our customers – are changing rapidly and we are building our capabilities in order to understand and serve their needs better and faster than ever before.”

Last month, the UK government sold its last shares in NatWest Group, concluding 17 years of public ownership that began during the 2008-09 financial crisis. The final sale occurred on 30 May 2025, fully returning the bank to private ownership.