As I scan the room, I can see lists of the most detailed bank account records suspended in the air in front of me. Included are thousands of transactions made over the past year. Welcome to the brave new world of banking, where, at the flick of a wrist it will be possible to apply for a mortgage agreement in principle in ten minutes.

I'm at NatWest's headquarters in Liverpool Street, London, to try out its new virtual reality (VR) banking app, which went live two weeks ago.

Through the goggles of the VR headset, in the middle of my field of vision are a collection of bank statements, direct debits and account balance. The centre of the screen looks exactly like NatWest's iPad app.

VR technology has long been popular with video gamers but it's not exactly the go-to for managing your finances.

However, NatWest assures me the technology will give its customers, as well as those who save with Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, a new way to manage their money at a time when banks continue to direct customers online.

It marks yet another step away from in-person banking. Nearly every month a High Street bank announces plans to close hundreds more of its branches as online services continue to replace personal contact.

Lloyds, Barclays, Halifax and NatWest shuttered 40 branches last month as they push customers to use live chats, digital assistants and mobile phone apps.

The VR app even offers more competitive savings rates than customers can get over the phone, by post or even in branch, although these rates are also available online and using the app.

Wendy Redshaw, chief digital information officer at NatWest Group, believes VR banking will provide 'one insight into how the future of banking could look'.

NatWest is the first of the High Street banks to use it in this way. 'It's great to be a first mover with such exciting new technology,' she says. 

It takes a few minutes to set up the headset and after a couple of tries to log in to one of NatWest's trial accounts, the app is up and running. I can see a test bank account suspended on a translucent 3D screen in front of me.

It is smooth and doesn't glitch.

The virtual and real world blend seamlessly and I position the rectangle with my banking information to the left of my body so I can still see my surroundings.

At first it feels like I'm wearing a heavy pair of ski goggles and a wave of nausea washes over me as my eyes adjust to the headset's internal screen.

I take the headset outside to check out how it works there but an abrupt turn sees me walk straight into a tree, hidden behind my banking information.

After getting my bearings, I swipe my right index finger in a bottom to top motion at shoulder height in the air in front of me to scroll through a list of all the test account's debit card payments from the past few weeks.

Thanks to motion sensors on the goggles, I can control the screen by simply flicking my wrist. It requires a few minutes to learn every hand gesture and the commands they correspond to, but once I've mastered them, I can open and close windows and navigate between internet webpages in seconds.

Sliding my finger left brings up another window where I can split my spending into 12 categories including transport, eating out and groceries and set budgets for each one. Next, I hover my finger over a purple button on the left-hand side of the page which opens a menu of products I can apply for.

I'm shocked to discover that I can take out a credit card, loan and even apply for a mortgage in less than ten minutes using the headset. All it takes is a little pointing into thin air or a pinch of my fingers to close screens.

In need of some advice, I ask NatWest's virtual assistant Cora to help me close a savings account that no longer offers a competitive rate. Typing my question into a virtual keyboard which hovers at about waist-height proves difficult and takes much longer than it would on my computer.

Apoorva Varma Mehta, who developed the VR banking app, suggests I try to control the keys by moving my eyes, but this only works for those who do not wear glasses or contact lenses and sadly I need one of the two at all times.

Several features of the mobile phone banking app are not yet available in the VR version, including being able to scan a cheque with your camera to deposit it into your bank account. Some security measures are also missing from the VR banking app, so users need to log in with a passcode.

Although the technology is impressive, Apoorva acknowledges that it is unlikely to be popular overnight. 'In the first week we had ten downloads,' she admits.

'Only a small group of people will be able to use the headset to do their banking as it is so expensive. 'At the moment, we think mostly wealthy people and tech bloggers will want to use it.'

The software can only be used on an Apple Vision Pro virtual reality headset, which costs £3,499. Apoorva stresses that although uptake is slow, the device could pave the way for future developments in banking.

'We're still in early experimentation as we work to understand what opportunities this new technology can present,' she says.

'It is by no means something that is going to replace telephone banking.'