Starling Bank

Starling Bank was founded in 2014 by CEO Anne Boden. They offer personal bank accounts, business bank accounts and banking services.

The personal bank account offered by Starling Bank is app based, as most of their offerings are, offer no monthly fees on the account, and don't charge for electronic payments, domestic transfers of ATM withdrawals. They offer users the ability to earn interest on their accounts, 0.5% up to £2,000, and 0.25% up to £85,000. Their account offers overdraft, savings goals, and protection offered through Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000.

Starling Bank's business account is app-based, but they offered an online option in 2019. There are no monthly account fees, nor fees for electronic payments, domestic transfers or ATM withdrawals for businesses with fewer than 10 employees and less than £1.7 million in annual turnover. Business account users can deposit or withdraw cash from their account at any U.K. Post Office branch for £3 per deposit and £0.50 per withdrawal. And Starling Bank offers business account users the ability to integrate their accounting software with their account.

Starling Bank has made it's banking and payments infrastructure open to third parties, which include the U.K. government. They also offer a marketplace of third-party financial products through Starling Bank's app and supported through their open API.

Announced in January 2016, Starling Bank raised £48 million. The funding came from Harald McPike, founder of quantitative investment manager QuantRes. This investment came while Starling Bank was waiting regulatory approval to enter the UK banking market. Harald McPike's investment came in three tranches: in December 2015, £3.15 million was released to Starling Bank; in July 2016, £14.84 million was released to Starling Bank; and in April 2017, £30 million was released to Starling Bank.

Starling Bank raised £10 million in funding. The round went unannounced and the investors were not disclosed.

In February 2019, Starling Bank raised £75 million in funding, of which £60 million comes from a round led by Merian Global Investors, and another £15 million from Harald McPike. The company plans to use the money to accelerate its European expansion and further develop the banking offering for private customers and SMEs.

The startup also provides Banking-as-a-service infrastructure to some 20 institutional clients.

Starling Bank was awarded a €115 million grant from the Capability and Innovation Fund (CIF). Starling pledged the money to create new jobs and invest in building a better bank for small to medium enterprises (SMEs).