If your business stretches across the pond, we’ve got just the thing to make managing it easier. We’re launching a USD account for limited companies. If you sign up, you’ll be able to send and receive money in USD from the Starling app. You’ll also be able to use your existing debit card to spend in dollars directly from your USD account without any need for conversion.
Our new account costs £5 per month. There’s a 0.4% fee to transfer money from GBP or EUR to USD within your Starling accounts. After that, there’s no fee for making or receiving a payment in USD - you can use the account as much as you need to without racking up more bills.
Who is the account for?
Our business USD account is for UK-based limited companies that already have a business account with Starling and need to make or receive regular payments in USD, for example they may have customers or suppliers in the US.
How do I apply?
You can apply from the menu in the Starling app by tapping ‘Get another Starling account’. If you are eligible for a multi-currency account it will appear as an option within the app. We’ll then take you through the steps and once approved, you’ll receive an account number and an ACH routing number. The ACH Network (it stands for Automated Clearing House) is an electronic funds-transfer system in the United States. Connecting to the ACH payment network will allow you to make and receive payments up to $25,000 in one day.
How quickly will payments be processed?
At Starling, we never do things by halves. We want to make everything as speedy and easy as we can. Payments that are received before 5pm will be processed the same day. All eligible Starling customer funds up to £85,000 are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), regardless of currency.
How do you work out the exchange rate?
When you transfer funds between your GBP or EUR and USD account, we use the real exchange rate and add a 0.4% charge. You will see all this in the app. Once the transfer is complete, you can spend USD by switching your existing debit card from GBP to USD in the Card Controls section of the app.
If you don’t switch the spend, you’ll be charged in GBP and we’ll convert it to USD using the MasterCard exchange rate. As always, all Starling customers - both personal and business - can use their debit card to spend abroad, and to withdraw cash or use a debit card machine, without additional fees from Starling.
Can I apply for a USD personal, joint or sole trader account?
Not yet. To keep up to date with all our news, you can subscribe to bi-weekly updates from our blog homepage.