NatWest has launched a new travel account that allows customers to spend euros abroad without being charged non-sterling fees.

The UK bank’s new account links euros to an existing current account debit card which can be used for purchases in euros abroad or online.

On Tuesday Lee McNabb head of group payments strategy at NatWest told FStech that his team's retail focus has been on how to improve the experience for customers that are cross-border spending.

Talking about the new account at Money 2020 in Amsterdam, McNabb said that NatWest plans to eventually expand the account beyond euros to other currencies.

"It's only MVP at the moment, so 'day one' if you like, but it will move out to different currencies and corridors," continued McNabb.

The head of group payments went on to say that the new account is now live across NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Ulster.

"The roadmap is quite long, it utilises our core mainframe so effectively for the customer it is a virtual account but it is a core account where the euros will sit on; [customers] pre-load that and then spend just as they would do in the UK," added McNabb.

The account will also enable NatWest customers spending abroad to take out €200 cash from an ATM without usual non-sterling transaction fees every 30 days.

Additionally, they can top up euros at a live exchange rate, separate these from their daily spending, and track their euro spending via the bank's app.

Earlier this week, Lloyds Bank also revealed that its packaged account customers will be able to use their debit cards abroad for no fee from July.

Silver and Platinum account customers will be able to use their card free of charge, anywhere around the world.

The move comes as Lloyds debit card data shows increasing customer demand for card spending overseas.

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