Anti-virus software

@Jomie, @probedb - I totally agree. I've used NatWest online banking almost since the start, and never had ANY trouble.

Personally, I take Which? reviews these days with large pinches of salt & pepper,

I agree about Which reports - some of them are inaccurate, particularly when they don’t look at a whole issue, just a small part of it. As has been said, take these reports with a very large pinch of salt.

Everyone’s banking is done via computers, online so exactly what is the difference between the bank doing it and the end user? The answer is what is between the ears of the account holder. Arguably, it is actually safer because there is no paperwork coming through the post to get mislaid.

I dont get any advertisement popups on avast Oo

Me neither....

will avast happily run along side defender? or will i need to disable defender?

I use Avast alongside defender and have no problems at all. I also use Zone Alarm Free Firewall as I find it easier to configure than the windows one.

I use Avast alongside defender and have no problems at all. I also use Zone Alarm Free Firewall as I find it easier to configure than the windows one.

zone alarm that brings back memories, ive used comodo firewall for a fair few years now

One to try is "Comodo" free version.