We take our responsibility to look after your personal data seriously. This means being transparent about how we use Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Starling, and how and why we use your personal data when you interact with our optional AI features.

We use different types of AI at Starling. We use some AI tools to help us operate as a bank and protect your account. We also offer optional AI features you can choose to use in the Starling app, such as:

We use AI to help us speed up and improve our processes, where we use AI for automated decision-making that could have a big impact on you, you can request a human review, read our privacy notice for more information.

AI tools we use

We don’t need your permission to use these AI tools. We use them across the bank to:

These uses of AI are based on our legitimate interests to use this technology to operate more effectively as a bank. Or, to follow our legal obligations under the law, including the requirements we have to follow as part of operating as a bank. You can read more about our legitimate interests in our privacy notice.

AI features you can choose to use

All of the AI features available in the Starling app are optional, and we’ll ask for your permission before you use them. You don’t have to use any of our AI features in order to have an account with us. They’re only provided to help improve your experience. 

If you choose to use any of our AI features, the AI will only complete tasks based on your questions or instructions. You can also turn off these features at any time in the Settings section of the Starling app.

Smart search in Help FAQs

When you ask a question using our smart search feature it uses natural language processing to compare your question to our FAQs to give you a unique answer. 

Natural language processing is a type of AI. It’s a way of analysing the way you word your question or instruction in order to understand what you’re asking for. It’s more advanced than a normal search, because when you use NLP you don’t need to include every relevant word in your question in order to get an answer.

The AI in our FAQ smart search doesn’t access your personal or payment data. But it can tell us who asked a particular question, so we can make sure you get the right answer.

Spending Intelligence

Spending Intelligence is an AI feature available in the Spending section of the Starling app. You can use it to learn more about your spending habits.

Spending Intelligence uses natural language processing to understand what question you’re asking about your spending. It then tells us, so that we can find the answer for you in your spending history. The AI doesn’t have access to your spending history or payment data.

Scam Intelligence

Scam Intelligence is designed to help you decide if a listing on social media or an online marketplace is authentic.

If you use Scam Intelligence, you’ll need to upload screenshots of the item listing, or conversations with the seller. Scam Intelligence then uses AI to ‘read’ the images you upload, and find anything that could be considered a scam, such as the:

We’ll then tell you if we found anything suspicious, so you can decide whether or not to make the purchase. We store the images you upload to Scam Intelligence for a short period of time, usually 6 months.

Starling Assistant

Starling Assistant is a conversational AI assistant available in the Starling app. You can ask the assistant questions about your account, and ask it to complete tasks for you, such as finding a bank statement.

When you first turn on Starling Assistant we’ll ask for your permission to access your account and transaction data. This is because the assistant needs access to this data in order to complete tasks for you.

The assistant will only be able to access your data for a limited time, and will only use it to follow your instructions. Sometimes the assistant might need to access data that’s broader than your instructions. This is because the assistant is designed to proactively access the necessary information, such as what type of account you have, in order to complete your request.

For certain tasks, such as moving money to a Space, the assistant will ask you to confirm the action before it goes through. This is to make sure you’re always in control of where your money is in your account.

You can stop using and turn off Starling Assistant at any time in the Settings section of the app. You can also still speak to a real person in our team at any time. We’re available 24/7.

How we store the data that our AI features can access

None of our AI features have permanent access to your data. They can only temporarily access it while performing the task you’ve asked it to do. Once the task is done, their access to your data will be removed.

We store information about how you interact and use our AI features. This information is stored securely at Starling, and we only use it to improve our features.

Any data that our AI features temporarily access, or that we store about your account can only be accessed by us.

We’ll keep your data for the length of time you have an account with us, plus 6 years after you close your last account. After this time, we’ll delete it.

Other AI companies we work with

We use different large language and machine learning models to run our AI tools and features. Large language and machine learning models are types of AI. Some of the large language and machine learning models we use are provided by Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services.

If we do use one of these companies to run one of our AI tools or features, all the data processing is managed and stored by Starling. It’s also operated inside the European Economic Area (EEA). No external company will keep access to any Starling data, and no external AI models are trained using Starling data.

Limits of our AI features

Before we introduce or update any of our AI features, we evaluate their performance by testing them against large test data sets to make sure they’re reliable, accurate and unbiased.

You should only use our optional AI features, such as Starling Assistant, for help with your Startling accounts. Our AI features are designed to do specific things. They might not be clever enough to complete all the tasks you need. If you need any help with your account, message us in the Help section of the app. We’re available 24/7.

Don’t use our AI features for sensitive personal matters or in emergencies, for example, if you’re worried about your health. Instead, message us in the Help section of the app.

Make sure you use your own judgement when using our AI features. Bear in mind the limits of the feature, and that the answer is the best that the feature can give you, but it may not be complete. We’re always reviewing and improving our AI so that it’s as fair, accurate and useful to you as possible.

Your data protection rights

The information in this AI privacy notice supports our main privacy notice. Make sure you read this main notice for more information on how we process your personal data. It also includes information about your data protection rights.

You can find the main privacy notice here.