Team Starling
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22nd November 2023
At the core of Starling - a branchless and app-based bank - is our 24/7 customer service team. You can speak to a human being - not a bot - any time of the day or night by:
Starting a Live Chat through the Starling app
Calling the number on the back of your Starling card
Emailing help@starlingbank.com
Contacting us via social media
Here’s how three people out of the hundreds that make up Starling customer service are working to help you. The teams are based across our three offices in Cardiff, London and Southampton.
“I absolutely love speaking to customers, whether I’m helping them with something quick or guiding them through something more complicated. I’ve had a lot of customers say how nice it is to speak to someone real, not a robot,” says customer service member Sunita.
“The Starling values that we hold - Listen, own it, keep it simple, aim for greatness and do the right thing - and the way they influence the way we treat customers, are so good. Customers always come first and we do everything we can to help,” she says. Sunita joined Starling in 2022. She previously worked as an administrator in a hospital.
“We’re not timed for each interaction, which means that we’re not pushed to quickly end a call and go onto another. And our 24/7 service means that if a customer is travelling and it’s 2am in the UK and they need help with the app or their card, they can pick up the phone and know that someone will be there.”
One of the many people working through the night to provide 24/7 support for our customers is Channelle. “With Starling, you can do the majority of things yourself on the app, without contacting customer service. But we’re here to walk you through how to do something if you need help,” she says.
“I do this a lot with customers that have come from a traditional bank and are used to having to contact their bank or go to branch to do something - they don’t realise that with Starling, they can do almost everything themselves.”
Channelle found out about Starling after another customer service member recommended she apply. She joined in 2021 and previously worked in the hairdressing industry and for HMRC.
All customer service agents spend their first weeks training in what we call the Academy. “When I came out of the Academy, I felt like I was ready for the role. You learn so much in the Academy and have so much time to practise with other people.”
Our social media community team adds an extra layer of communications and support to Starling customer services as a whole and our channels are monitored by the team 24/7 as well.
Through social media our customers can find out about upcoming features and product drops, as well as company news and campaigns, but more importantly can ask questions on their Starling bank account. Remember never to post sensitive or personal information publicly - send us a private message instead.
Everyone in the team is trained to answer customer questions or concerns posted anywhere we have a social presence, which includes Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok and Twitter.
“We always take customer queries seriously but we also try to have fun with every interaction,” says Arvind, who heads up our social media community team.
“Our aim is to really listen to what we’re being asked and answer each question in a conversational and engaging way. We’re trustworthy and not your typical bank, so we want our customers to understand that when we communicate with them,” he says.
“We’re very open and transparent with our customers, which I think allows customers to fully trust us and strengthens our relationship with them for the long term. Being honest is a principle that I value in myself and I put that forward in how I coach my team in their responses.”
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