Introducing: Online banking for business

Starling just got bigger and better. From this week, business customers will be able to manage their money both from their smartphone and their laptop.

Why online banking?

The ability to bank on a browser has topped the charts for requested features from our business customers. You may simply prefer to see your transactions on a bigger screen. Or perhaps you want to manage payments while referring back to emails or invoices stored on your laptop. How you bank is up to you, and now you have the choice of using your app or your browser.

“I love Starling and the fact that I can do my business banking on the go. But when I’m not out and about, I want to do my business banking in a different way and now I have that option,” says Starling business customer Christina Hsieh. “It feels more complete.”

Christina is the founder of structural engineering company Matter. For her, the most useful part of the ability to bank through the Starling app and through her laptop is having two screens. “I have quite a few different phone apps to manage my business and it will be easier now that I don’t have to change between screens.”

Starling business customer David Hartley agrees. “Day to day I’ll be sitting at my desk and I do my banking then. All our trading is online - we sell through eBay, Amazon and our website - and we have no need for managing cash at a bank branch so Starling is perfect for us.” If you do need to deposit cash though, you can do so at your local post office.

David runs Leaf Graph Paper, making and selling a range of paper resources, including music manuscript and planning tools. “We design and create our own stationery. It’s a family-run business and we always use paper and packaging from sustainable sources.”

He switched to Starling earlier this year. “The app is brilliant for setting up new payees very quickly. We’ve just moved into our first office and there are so many new people to pay, which I can do through the app.” Now, with online banking, he’ll have the choice of setting up new payees either from the app or from his laptop.

How do I log into online banking?

• Go to our secure login page and click ’Log in’
• Enter your account number and mobile number
• Tap the notification on your mobile and confirm your login attempt
• This will open the Starling app, where you can use your fingerprint or security code for verification, and log you into online banking

You may be wondering why you need to log in via the Starling app rather than through an email or password. The answer is security. Using your account number, mobile number and the app adds multiple layers of security. It also means that you only have to use your fingerprint or remember your Starling four digit code rather than separate details for your online banking. Remember to set strong passwords and never write them down.

Which features are available through online banking?

Like our app, Starling online banking is packed with everything you’d expect from a business bank account, plus smart money management to save you time and money.

You can:

• See your actual bank balance and list of transactions in real-time
• Set up payments and edit standing orders
• View and export statements to CSV or PDF and save them straight to your laptop
• See what you’re spending on rent, travel or food for the office dog with automatic categorisation
• Lock your business card if you’ve lost it or turn off online payments or cash withdrawals
• Set money aside in Savings Goals for your tax bill or some new snazzy equipment

And hold tight – we’ll be introducing a string of new features soon.