Starling milestones: Autumn 2018

The days are getting shorter, the leaves are falling but there’s no falling behind here at Starling: we’re filling our days with exciting developments and features to help you manage your money. Read on for a recap of what we’ve been up to and how we’re getting on with our Roadmap.

You can now...

✓ Open more than one business account
✓ Open a personal account if you’re 16 or 17-years-old
✓ Use Nearby Payments to pay other Starling account holders near you
✓ Take out a loan with Starling or spread the cost of a previous transaction (if eligible)
✓ Access life insurance advisor Anorak from our Marketplace
✓ Sign up to the waiting list for euro accounts

We mean business

Our team have been working hard to open up our mobile business accounts to more people. If you have more than one business, you can now have more than one business account with Starling.

We’re also working on making it easier for those who choose to move everything from a previous business account to a Starling business account. The Current Account Switch Service (CASS) takes the hassle out of switching banks - direct debits, standing orders and your balance will be moved over within 7 days. We’re testing CASS for business at the moment so stay tuned for updates.

Built by young people, for young people

Just in time for the new school term, we announced that our personal accounts are now open to 16 and 17-year-olds - no fees, no paperwork, just a fully functioning bank account to manage your money from your smartphone.

Our young person accounts do not offer overdrafts or loans. But all the other features of our personal accounts for over 18s are included: Spending Insights, real-time notifications and the ability to lock the contactless debit card if lost or stolen. We want young people to be able to manage their money independently and have all the tools they need to save money or pay back friends or family in a way that fits their lifestyle.

Paying your friends just got easier

Whether its splitting cinema tickets or paying someone back for lunch, it’s now even easier with Starling. If two Starling account holders are in the same physical space such as round the dinner table or on the sofa, they can make quick and secure payments through Nearby Payments.

This is enabled by Google Nearby technology which uses a combination of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and audio to work out if two phones are close enough to connect. Both Starling account holders must then confirm that they accept the connection to allow payments to be made between the two accounts.

Easy payments can also be made through Settle Up - simply send a request for a payment through the app and skip the awkward texts and exchange of account numbers and sort codes.

Bringing more services to banking

Our latest in-app partner in the Starling Marketplace is the life insurance advisor Anorak. As part of this launch, we took a deep dive into the technology behind our Marketplace.

When we released our annual report in August, our founder Anne Boden outlined her vision for Starling in her first annual ‘Letter from the CEO’, including the Marketplace and Payment Services. We’re in active conversations with 80 partners for our Marketplace, plus many more for Payment Services and our Banking-as-a-Service offering.

The first partner to use our APIs to offer their own customised accounts is savings marketplace Raisin UK. One of the most exciting things about this is not knowing what could be created as a result of opening up our APIs and platform to others.

Come and say hello

We love meeting our customers face to face; we’ve been involved in a number of events this year and we have more coming up.

Following the run of comedy shows we supported with Funny Women on the Fringe in Edinburgh, we’re back in London and heading to Courier Live, an expo for startups and entrepreneurs organised by Courier Magazine on Friday 28th September. From 9th-11th November, you’ll find us at Stylist Live, a three day event organised by Stylist Magazine featuring pop-ups, panels and workshops.

On Tuesday 4th September, we took part in a panel on Open Banking hosted by Finimize, the newsletter that provides updates on finance and business that can be read in under 3 minutes. Anne was joined by Michelle Pearce-Bucke, CEO of online investment platform Wealthify, and Victor Troukodes, CEO of personal finance advisor Plum. Starling customers can integrate their account with Plum and find our more about Wealthify through our Marketplace.

We’ll be at the Asian Achievers Awards on Friday 14th September. We’re looking forward to meeting some of the businesses that have been recognised for their achievements and spreading the word about Starling business accounts.

Article updated: 10 June 2019

Article updated: 1 December 2022

From 1 September 2019 Starling customers with a euro account can convert the pounds in their personal account into euros – or euros into pounds – all at the real exchange rate with a 0.40% fee. No hidden commission, no hidden fees, no hassle.