Natwest Bankline system has been struggling over the last 2 days and is now making headline news. What does this mean for contractors?

Well it's not good news as most contractors like to get paid every Friday and the current issues are without doubt causing problems. People are reporting payments not having been made or received and are unable to download bank statements.

Anyone expecting to receive or pay money from or to a Natwest account will be having difficulties and the knock on effect of failed payments escalating to others who aren't connected to Natwest.

The way Umbrella Companies work is that the end client pays your recruitment agency, the recruitment agency then pays your umbrella company (or your own limited company) and then the Umbrella Company (or your own limited company) pays you.

If any of these phases are through Natwest then there could be an issue!

At PayMatters we have been able to get round these issues by paying out to people working through our umbrella company based on remittance advices we receive from the recruitment agencies rather than relying solely on our bank statement.

Our aim is always that everyone gets paid Friday with the minimum of hassle.