Who is Starling Bank’s Founder and CEO, Anne Boden?
- Born in Swansea, Wales
- Attended Swansea University and Middlesex University
- Founded Starling Bank in June 2014
- Awarded a Honorary Doctorate and a MBE
Anne Boden was born in a suburb of Swansea, Wales, as an only child. Boden is an only child to a steelworker and a department store employee. At a young age, Boden’s parents taught her the lessons of saving money. As a result, the fintech entrepreneur ran her school’s bank at the age of 11, at Cefn Hengoed Community School.
Becoming more and more interested in science, Anne went on to study at Swansea University completing a Bachelor of Science Joint Honours in Computer Science and Chemistry between 1978 and 1981.
After completing university, Boden went on to work as a Programme Manager at Lloyds Bank, for four years. This came after applying to Lloyds Bank as a backup plan, intended to go into IT, as a graduate trainee where her career was launched.
After these four years, Anne Boden went to Standard Chartered Bank, working as the Head of Systems and Process, UK Corporate Banking, for five years. During her time at Standard Chartered Bank, she attended Middlesex University on the side to earn an MBA.
After earning her BMA, she went on to her next job at Price Waterhouse Management Consultants. Boden worked here for three years as a Financial Services Division.
Next on her journey, Boden found herself working as a Director and Chief Information Officer at Ion Corporation, working here for 7 years. After this time, Boden became the Executive Vice President Europe, Transaction Banking (Payments, Liquidity, Trade) at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
However, after 3 years Boden moved to the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, where she was the Head of EMEA, Global Transaction Services. After a couple of years, Anne Boden furthered her career as the Chief Operating Officer at AID for a year. During this time, Boden helped turn around the bank’s fortunes after the financial crisis of 2008.
After a distinguished global career in financial services, Anne Boden founded her online banking business in June 2014, originally named Possible Financial Services. After selling her home for the initial start-up capital, Boden seeked funding from investors and venture capitalists.
Spending her days knocking on people’s doors to raise money, it took Boden two years to raise a single pound. However, after landing £163 million in fundraising, Boden plan to build a new model, focusing around current accounts, running on mobile phones, was finally on its way. Little did young Anne Boden know that running her school’s bank would one day lead to her being the founder and CEO of a successful digital bank with over 1.4 million customers all over the world.
Over the years, Anne Boden has received two awards which stand out from the others. These include an Honorary Doctorate from Middlesex University in 2018 and a MBE for services to financial technology in 2018.
Whilst owning 24% of Starling Bank as well as being the CEO, Boden is a Fellow of the Royal Chartered Institute of IT and a member of the FinTech Strategy Group, created by Innovate Finance and the City of London Corporation.
What is Anne Boden’s Net Worth?
The net worth of Anne Boden is not currently known; however, Starling Bank has raised more than £363 million in backing. Owning 24% of the company, Starling Bank has seen a big increase in their annualised revenue run rate since November 2019, standing at £80 million, remaining on track to hit break even by the end of 2020.
About Starling Bank
- Founded in 2014
- A fast-growing UK digital bank
- Targeting millions of users who live their lives on their phones
- An independent, privately-owned company
- Named the Best Bank at the British Banking Awards many times
- Get a full, free UK bank account up and running in 20 minutes, with your card delivered within seven days
Starling Bank was founded in 2014 by industry-leading banker Anne Boden, who recognised how technology could transform the way people manage their money and serve customers in a way that traditional banks hadn’t. Starling Bank is an award-winning and fully-licensed bank built to give people a fairer, smarter and more human alternative to the banks of the past.
With four different account types – personal, business, joint and euro – and a pioneering payment services proposition for businesses, Starling’s world-class tech reimagines banking for life today, putting the tools people need to feel good about money in the palm of their hand. This explains why Starling Bank has more than 1.5 million customer accounts with over £3 billion in deposits. Additionally, all of Starling’s accounts are protected up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Starling Bank has raised more than £363 million in backing and were voted Best British Bank three years running. Winning £100 million of investment from RBS in 2019, Starling Bank were given the chance to expand its SME banking. Additionally,
Following the 2008 financial crisis, Starling Bank is one of the several startups aiming to challenge the big banks. Today, Starling has opened more than one million current accounts for individuals and small businesses. Its app is loaded with smart money management tools, while its Marketplace gives customers access to third party financial services. Starling also has a pioneering Banking-as-a-Service and payment services business.
