Has anyone set up the NatWest UK app on iPad?

[JulianL]

I have the NatWest UK banking app installed and working perfectly on my iPhone. Although the app is really basic, I do find it very convenient if I just want to quickly check the balance on my current account. Because of this, I'd quite like to get it working on my iPad but I'm a bit scared of doing something that might break the setup on my iPhone.

Right now I have the app downloaded onto my iPad (running in iPhone compatibility mode of course). It's doing what is expected at this stage, i.e. as soon as I launch it it asks for a mobile phone number in order to configure the app and won't do anything else until a valid number is entered. At this point I should point out that my iPad is WiFi only, not 3G.

I tried entering my BT land line number as the mobile phone number in the hope that it would then send its text message and I'd get a voice call from BT with that spooky woman's voice reading out the necessary authorisation number to me. Unfortunately the app checks the format of the phone number entered and needs it to start with 07 and be 11 digits long so that ruse was a failure.

I could enter my iPhone mobile phone number again and I suspect that I'd then get another text with a new authorisation number but I'm scared to try this in case I mess up my existing setup, e.g. by the system thinking that I'm wanting to move my installation to a different device and disabling the current authorisation on my iPhone.

I called up the NatWest technical support number but they were useless and said that they'd never heard of anyone setting up two devices. I never even got as far as discussing the details because they clearly didn't have a clue.

Has anyone tried using the same mobile phone number to set up on an iPhone and an iPad?

I suppose my other choice is to use a friend's phone number who I trust, and who doesn't bank with NatWest, just as a valid 07xxxx 11 digit number that I can give to receive the text messsage with the authorisation code and I can then hopefully enable the app on my iPad with this second code without interfering with my iPhone setup in any way. Has anyone used this approach successfully?

I think that I've thought of all the possible options but if anyone has any other suggestions that that would be great.

- Julian

 

[TheBritishBloke]

Don't you have a sim card and an old phone lying around? Just use that

 

[JulianL]

Don't you have a sim card and an old phone lying around? Just use that

Sadly not, I port my number around so my old SIMs are all dead and I tend to be quite ruthless in recycling my old phones so I don't have any old handsets lying around either. Funilly enough I just sent of my previous handset yesterday for recycling.

I'm thinking that using a friend's mobile number to receive the authorisation text might be my best bet.

- Julian

 

[tw1ll]

Should be fine

Been there, done that. Just get the text sent to your iPhone and use it in the iPad app. Both still worked fine. My iPhone app stopped working after an upgrade and even though I was up and running on the iPad it still allowed me to set up the phone as well.

 

[JulianL]

Been there, done that. Just get the text sent to your iPhone and use it in the iPad app. Both still worked fine. My iPhone app stopped working after an upgrade and even though I was up and running on the iPad it still allowed me to set up the phone as well.

I love this forum. I really thought this was too niche a question to have much hope of getting an answer, and then along you come. That's fantastic. Thanks.

By the way, in case you haven't seen it for some reason, I got a letter from the NatWest mobile banking dept in the last couple of days and it said: "From 4th October a new version of the iPhone App will be issued for download.".

I'm really hoping that they're going to work out some way to add accounts that don't have debit cards. I try to shuffle spare money into an eSave account and that doesn't have a debit card so I can't access it via the NatWest app. I also wish that the mini statements showed the same level of detail as the web site. At the moment it seems pretty clear what this app is, it essentially just provides access to a virtual ATM machine on the internet, so maybe it will never be able to break free of those constraints.

- Julian

 

[TheBritishBloke]

I just need to wait for HSBC to make an app lol

 

[Seamaster]

Safari + http://www.nwolb.com

Who needs an iPad app?

 

[JulianL]

Safari + http://www.nwolb.com

Who needs an iPad app?

Have you used the app? If all you want to do is check an account balance then the app is so much quicker and more convenient.

- Julian

 

[JulianL]

I just need to wait for HSBC to make an app lol

Actually, you might not have to wait too long. The NatWest app is really only a re-branding of this: http://www.monilink.co.uk/. HSBC is listed as a partner so if it isn't on the app store already then I would have thought that it will be soon. I also have a current and savings account with HSBC so I need to check out their app status myself at some point.

Don't be too excited though, it really does only do what you could do by putting your card into an ATM machine, but it is still very convenient for a quick balance check.

- Julian

 

[TheBritishBloke]

Actually, you might not have to wait too long. The NatWest app is really only a re-branding of this: http://www.monilink.co.uk/. HSBC is listed as a partner so if it isn't on the app store already then I would have thought that it will be soon. I also have a current and savings account with HSBC so I need to check out their app status myself at some point.

Don't be too excited though, it really does only do what you could do by putting your card into an ATM machine, but it is still very convenient for a quick balance check.

- Julian

Oh sweet! I've been waiting for it for about a year since natwest brought theirs out. I do have a bookmark on my home screen to quickly get to Internet banking. But an app would just be so much more convenient.

Thanks for letting me know!

 

[pacmania1982]

You can only use it on one device. I have it on my iPad (WiFi + 3G). When you try to put it on another device you will need a new passcode to configure it. It will then not work on the original device. Don't worry about getting multiple passcodes, they're not valid for too long. I got a new iPad the other week and for some reason although I said restore to the one it was replacing, the app settings for a few things didn't go over. I then had to reapply for the passcode, which didn't come through at first, so I got impatient and did it again. It does advise you to use the lastest one, even if you pressed the buttom 100 times, you would have to use the 100th one provided

After that, mine works fine. I did however have a problem when an update came out and it said when trying to login that the iPad wasn't supported. They updated it to support iOS 4 and therefore it works fine.

pac

 

[rikbrown]

Safari + http://www.nwolb.com

Who needs an iPad app?

Logging in on nwolb.com is a PITA on the iPad - don't you find? For the fields where you need to enter the individual PIN/password characters, their "helpful" Javascript causes the field to lose focus, and on screen keyboard to close. Clicking back in the next box just immediately loses focus again - I need to click on the previous box and press "Next"! It's infuriating.

The app isn't very good but it is a really quick way to check balances, which is most of what I do anyway.