Natwest's online customers have been left fuming after technical issues slowed the bank's system to a snail's pace.
According to a recorded phone message: "We have experienced some issues with the speed of our banking service today. This service will return to normal however you may still experience some delay."
The twitterverse has been abuzz all day with angry users, one fuming: "Five hours #natwest online banking down today at least. Plus not a word of explanation on their website. PR not their strong point I guess?"
Eagle-eyed users will have spotted a help box on the banking home page pre-populated with the query "Why can't I log-in?"
Posted at 11.55 am, the response says: "We are aware of a technical issue affecting access to our service - please try again later. We are working to resolve this - please accept our apologies for any inconvenience."
A bank spokeswoman confirmed the problem but says it is improving and strongly denied suggestions on the Web that ATMs and phone banking services have also been affected.