Startup Profile: Starling Bank

 

  • Starling bank is a mobile-only challenger bank offering personal, joint and business accounts.
  • Finance veteran Anne Boden founded the London-based bank in January, 2014.
  • Since its founding, Starling Bank has raised a total of £323 million in funding from investors including Harald McPike, Merian Global Investors and MerianChrysalis.

 

 

About Starling Bank

 

Anne Boden founded Starling Bank in 2014, after previously holding senior finance roles for over 30 years, including COO for AIB and Head of EMEA for RBS. Her goal was to create an all-in-one app-based bank that would help you manage your money with simplicity and control and maintain a healthy financial life. Boden stated: “Following the banking crisis that caused so much distress to so many people, the banking industry tried to put things back together again the way they were before. I knew there was a possibility of a different and better way to provide banking services to customers. And I had to do it. I had to start a bank”.

 

Anne Boden, Founder and CEO of Starling Bank.

 

Overcoming vast amounts of scepticism, Boden launched Starling Bank, successfully raising £48 million in funding, one of the most substantial fintech investments in the UK. The challenger bank now has 800 employees across offices in London, Southampton, Cardiff and Dublin including 277 new hires in 2019, a growth rate of 105%. Customers have opened 1.25 million accounts with Starling since its banking app launched in May 2017.

 

  

How Does It Work? 

 

Starting provides personal, joint and business banking accounts, all accessed via their IOS and Android mobile apps. The digital bank offers features such as pending insights, bill-splitting, real-time notifications, savings goals and in-app customer services chat. Account holders can freeze and unfreeze cards that have been lost or misplaced to prevent unauthorised transactions. Starling users can also open Teen accounts for 16 and 17-year-olds and Euro accounts which allow users to bank in Euros in the UK.  

 

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The Starling Marketplace offers a range of financial services that link to your account.

 

The Starling in-app marketplace provides a range of third-party products within its app through its open API. Founder and CEO of Starling Bank, Anne Boden said: “Our Marketplace is designed to help customers make the most of their finances”. They currently have partnerships Xero, Habito Go, QuickBooks, Sparqa Legalourand CreditLadder, to name a few. They have also integrated an Express Transit mode option for those travelling with Transport for London.  

 

 

Starling Bank in 2020

  

Starling’s latest funding round was in February, raising £60 million from Merian Global Investors and Harry McPike’s JTC. The funding will go towards funding its European expansion. They are imminently launching an international bank in Dublin, which had been slowed down due to uncertainty surrounding  Brexit.

 

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The Starling Bank connected card supports customers who cannot leave the house during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

In April, Starling Bank was accredited as a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme lender. It has been working alongside the British Business Bank to ensure that they are in a position to give their business customers the financial support they need. The challenger bank also introduced the “Connected card” in April to help customers who are self-isolating. The card links to customers’ accounts as a spare that can be given to anyone they trust to shop for groceries and other essential items on their behalf.

Starling Bank was voted “Best British Bank” for the third year running at the British Bank Awards 2020 and is rated 4.5/5 stars on Trustpilot by more than 10,000 reviewers.

 

For more information, visit the Starling Bank webpage.