If it seems as though Monzo and Starling suddenly disrupted the banking world at the same time, it's because they did – and it's no coincidence. Starling is led by Anne Boden, a banking exec with decades of experience – including a stint as Allied's COO – and Monzo's CEO Tom Blomfield was once her employee. After reports of disagreement, Blomfield and other staff departed to found Monzo, now one of Starling's biggest rival. The competitors continue to feud, according to reports, with accusations of spying and employee defections.
That drama is an outlier, though. Starling has steadily grown without major controversy since its 2014 founding, though at a less active rate than rivals. As of August 2019, Starling has just shy of 800,000 customers, with about 60,000 of those business accounts, with Boden saying it's on track to pass a million this year with £1 billion in deposits.
That latter figure may prove the most important: Starling customers deposit an average £1,450 a month into their accounts, on par with legacy banks and suggesting they're using it for day-to-day banking rather than simply as a spending card. Starling has fewer customers than other challenger banks, but it has more of their money.
As the UK's big challenger banks – Monzo, Revolut, Starling and N26 – continue to grow in popularity, we're reviewing the services they provide to bring you a comprehensive view of their usability. This includes their features, account types and security practices.
Customer account services
Starling has the key challenger bank features: instant transaction notifications, savings sub accounts (here, they're called "Spaces") with a roundup function, and spending broken down into categories for better budgeting. Alongside a personal account, you can also add a joint or business account, as well as a Personal Euro account, handy for travellers or expats; there's a 0.4% fee on exchanging from pounds to euros, and then transactions are free.
Like other challenger banks, Starling's API allows third-party companies to link up with the app, such as PensionBee, Churchill and Flux, among others. Starling is the furthest along with this idea of third-party services, with its Marketplace already built into the app with a selection of 11 partners covering bill management, insurance, receipts, savings and more; a charity section is in the works. This all means you can add and manage such services, be it signing up for an ISA or tracking receipts, directly via the app. This is the promise of open banking, and with Starling it's already reality.
Starling is also streets ahead of challenger rivals when it comes to loans. Need a bit of extra cash, and Starling has an overdraft like the others, but it also has a built-in longer term loan facility. Tap into that tab, and you'll be shown exactly how much you can borrow and at what rate, with the interest charge personalised based on your credit rating and always at a rate that's lower than your overdraft. It can be paid back over up to two years, with your first repayment date and amount clearly stated. It's almost too easy, which could of course be a risk with loans; some of us already live full time in overdraft, and this could become a slick version of that.
