What is Google Nearby technology?
Google Nearby is a set of APIs that allows two phones to communicate with each other. “The tech uses a combination of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and audio to work out if two phones are close enough to connect,” he says.
The Wi-Fi access points listed on each phone are compared to see if they match, indicating that the phones are near each other. Bluetooth transmits a token that can be found by other devices with Google Nearby and the audio (too high for human ears) is picked up by the microphone of the other phone if it is close by.
These three elements create a secure and simple way of knowing when two phones are nearby and can therefore connect to create a Starling joint account.
Playing it safe
It probably goes without saying that a joint account is for people who trust each other and know each other well – you’ll both be responsible for the account and will have full access to everything in it. Opening a joint account with someone with a lower credit score can affect your credit score so it’s worth being aware of each other’s financial situations before you open the account. As a Starling customer, you’ll be covered up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Our joint accounts include the ability to lock your card from the app if lost or stolen and turn spending on or off for contactless payments, online transactions or ATM withdrawals. The limit for ATM withdrawals on joint accounts is £300 or up to six cash withdrawals per day.
At the moment, you both need to have a Starling personal account (which you can also apply for in minutes) to set up your joint account. This means that the security checks we do on new customers are done and dusted already so your shiny new joint account can be up and running in five minutes.
We know that breaking up is hard to do and we’ve tried to take the pain out of relationship breakups when it comes to closing your joint account. If you have a disagreement with the person you share the card with, you can lock the account quickly by contacting Starling. If you need to close the account completely, you’ll both need to get in touch.