In this independent review, we look at Starling Bank including how it works, Starling Bank's fees and how it compares to alternative app-only banks such as Monzo and Revolut. We recommend you read the review in full however you can jump to specific sections of the review using the following links:
- What is Starling Bank?
- Starling Bank key features
- Starling Bank accounts
- How much does Starling Bank cost?
- Is Starling Bank safe to use?
- Can I use my Starling Bank card abroad?
- Starling Bank customer reviews
- Starling Bank alternatives
- Pros and Cons of Starling Bank
- Summary
What is Starling Bank?
App-only challenger banks are innovating the banking industry and Starling Bank is among the best-known new brands. It received its banking licence in 2016 and unveiled the UK's first mobile-only current account in 2017.
Starling Bank was founded by Anne Boden who helped create the UK’s CHAPS real-time payment system and worked for big brands such as Lloyds and Allied Irish Bank.
Starling Bank takes a different approach to old-school banking. The idea is to provide everything you want from a full UK bank account but none of the stuff you don’t. They have decided this means you don’t need bank branches but you do get money management tools, a MasterCard contactless debit card and 24/7 support.
So is it worth carrying your bank around in your pocket?
Starling Bank key features
- Earn 3.25% interest on your current account balance - Starling Personal, Joint and Teen account holders can earn 3.25% interest on balances up to £5,000 in their main account (including Spaces and Kite)
- Freeze your card - freeze your card in-app if lost or stolen
- Disable/Restrict and block payments - disable chip and pin or contactless payments, restrict online spending and block transactions such as gambling
- Set up savings space - earn interest whilst saving towards personal goals
- Pay bills from saving spaces - automatically pay any direct debits and standing orders from a saving space to avoid confusion with your disposable income
- Free virtual cards - personal and joint current account holders can use up to 5 virtual cards to spend from linked saving spaces and to pay for subscriptions
- Nearby payments - send payments securely to Starling customers nearby
- Settle up - Easily split payments with a 'settle up' link
- Instant spending notifications - receive instant real-time notifications when spending
- Categorised spending - Have your transactions automatically sorted into a vast range of spending categories to keep track of your spending
- Modify your contactless limit - choose how much you can spend on contactless payments
- Paperless statements - easily access your statements within the app
- Round up spending - round up transactions to the nearest pound to save money
- Free cash withdrawals abroad - (some cash machines charge their own fee)
- International money transfers - The app can also be used for international money transfers. Users pay a 0.4% transaction fee, local network fee (if applicable) & a flat rate delivery fee of £5.50 for faster payment. This is much cheaper than many banks that can charge up to 5% for international money transfers.
- No foreign transaction fees - spend abroad for free with no additional charges added or an exchange rate markup fee
- Marketplace - integrate your Starling Bank account with other financial products
- Mobile cheque deposits - Deposit cheques up to £1,000 from your mobile phone (£2,000 daily limit applies)
- Additional 'Connected' card - Users can order an additional card and give it to those who they trust to make purchases on their behalf and everything can be controlled from the app
- Log in via desktop - Users can log in via a laptop, mac or computer
- Starling Kite - a separate space within a parent account that allows your children to manage their own money from the Starling Kids app
- Earn up to 4.05% on savings - Starling Bank personal account holders can earn up to 4.05% on savings of £2,000 or more
Starling Bank accounts
Starling Bank offers personal and joint accounts as well as business accounts. We explain each account in more detail in this section of the review.
Starling Bank personal accounts
You don’t have to phone to make an appointment to visit a branch to open a Starling Bank account, instead, all you need to do is download the app on your smartphone.
You must be aged 16 and a UK resident to get a Starling Bank personal or Starling Bank joint account. Applicants need to download the app on a smartphone and provide a valid photo ID such as a UK passport or driving licence. Starling promises that this process will take around five minutes, which is quicker than having to go into a bank branch during opening hours. There is also an account dedicated to 16-17-year-olds wanting to manage their money.
Similar to traditional bank accounts, you will get a contactless Mastercard debit card and will be able to set up standing orders and manage direct debits in the app. You can also connect it to your digital wallet such as Apple Pay.
You can make up to six cash withdrawals a day up to a daily maximum of £300. You can deposit up to £1,000 cash a year free of charge at more than 11,500 Post Office branches nationwide. Anything over this amount will be charged at 0.7% of the balance deposited.
Starling Bank provides an optional overdraft that you can turn on or off within the app, however, this is not currently available on joint accounts. You can reduce the amount you need and you are only charged for the amount you borrow. The overdraft fee is an equivalent annual rate (EAR) of 15%, 25% or 35% based on your credit score.
Having everything on the app means you can access your account wherever you are. But this is more than just a current account. Starling Bank will show you real-time balances and send instant payment notifications so you can track your spending.
You can access spending insights that give you a breakdown of your spending habits so you can budget better and understand exactly where your money goes. However, unlike its rival Monzo, Starling Bank does not currently allow you to set spending budgets within the app. There is a spaces section though that rounds up your spending so any spare change can be put towards a big purchase such as a holiday or car and your round-ups can be multiplied by x2, x5 or x10 to boost your savings further, which is something that some rival banks charge a subscription fee for.
You can also earn interest on your money with Starling Bank. Any money in your current account earns 3.25% on balances up to £5,000 and Starling Personal account holders can also earn 4.05% interest on their savings. Starling's 1-Year Fixed Saver was introduced in December 2022 and allows personal account holders to deposit between £2,000 - £1m and earn 4.05% interest on the balance. The savings account can be opened within the Spaces section of the personal account app but your cash cannot be accessed until the account reaches maturity after 12 months.
Starling Connected Card
Starling's 'Connected' card allows someone you trust to spend money on your behalf. The card is designed to be given to trusted friends, family and carers and saves the hassle of transferring money or splitting a bill. The card is capped at £200 but the money is held in a separate 'space' in your Starling app and is therefore separate from the money in your main account.
The person who has access to the Connected card is not able to see your personal account information. The Connected card cannot be used at ATMs, online, with a mobile wallet or for any gambling transactions and you have to have a Starling Bank personal account to be able to request a Connected card.
Starling Kite account
Starling Bank has a pocket money account for children aged between 6 - 16 years old but as it sits as a 'Space' within the adult account you must have a personal or joint account with Starling if you want to create one. As it sits within a Starling personal account, it is easy to set up regular payments and instantly transfer money into a Starling Kite account. A Starling Kite account is free to open and there are no additional charges for transferring or withdrawing money.
Children can create Savings Spaces within their Starling Kite account and can work towards achieving their goals with spending analytics. Adults can set spending limits, get instant spending notifications and control where their child spends money on their card e.g. only in shops or online. An additional bonus is if you have a Starling Bank Joint account the other account holder will get the same information regarding the Kite account. Just like a regular Starling account, there are also no overseas spending fees. Children can also download the Starling app on their phones to manage their Starling Kite account and receive spending notifications and check their Starling Kite card balance.
To see how Starling Kite compares to other pocket money accounts, read our article 'The best pocket money apps 2024'.
Starling Bank Business accounts
Starling Bank’s business and sole trader account is similar to its personal account. Starling Bank says the application process for its business account is slightly longer than the personal one at around 10 minutes, but in comparison, many banks will require you to make an appointment and sit in a branch for a couple of hours to get approval. Instead, you need to download the app, enter your personal details and information about your business, verify who you are by sending a video and ID documents and wait for credit checks to come through. The bank may have extra queries though so this process may not be as instant as getting a personal account.
There are no fees for a Starling business account unless you opt to sign up for the Business Toolkit which costs £7 a month for extra bookkeeping, invoicing and VAT features. Starling's Business account offers a similar service to the personal account such as payment alerts and transaction categorisation. Starling Business account holders can earn 2.50% interest on balances between £2,000 - £1,000,000 with the 1-year Fixed Business Saver.
If you have both a personal and business account you will be able to switch between both within the app. Both personal and business accounts are part of the Current Account Switching Service so should take a maximum of seven days to switch and the whole process is managed for you, meaning you don’t have to worry about cancelling old payments as all your direct debits should automatically be transferred.
For more information on Starling Bank's business account, read our 'Starling Business bank account review'. To see what other business bank accounts are available on the market, read our article, 'Compare the best business bank accounts in the UK'.
Is it easy to close my Starling Bank account?
Closing your account is pretty simple, especially as there are no monthly fees. You just need to contact customer services through the app. If you have a positive balance on your account you need to transfer this or Starling Bank can send a cheque for the outstanding balance. You will need to cancel all payment instructions, direct debits and standing orders you have on your account. Your account will remain open if you are still overdrawn and you will be expected to repay any funds.
How much does Starling Bank cost?
There are no fees for a Starling Bank personal account, plus no charges when travelling abroad. Remember you will still need to pay the exchange rate on international withdrawals or transactions though. This will be set by MasterCard if you pay in the local currency or will be applied by the business if you are paying in sterling.
The only fees personal users will see are overdraft fees or cash deposit fees. Starling Bank's overdraft charges an EAR of 15%, 25% or 35% (dependent on your credit score). Interest is accrued daily and charged monthly and it’s all updated in your app. Starling announced that from April 2020 you will not be charged a fee or interest for accidentally entering your unauthorised overdraft.
If you wish to deposit cash into your Starling Bank personal account you will be charged 0.70% of the deposit balance on cash deposits at the post office that exceed the free £1,000 annual limit. Starling Bank Personal and Joint accounts can deposit a maximum of £5,000 per year.
Is Starling Bank safe to use?
Starling Bank is regulated like any bank by the Financial Conduct Authority. This means it must adhere to strict rules on protecting client money and treating customers fairly. Users also receive protection under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, meaning up to £85,000 of your cash will be secured if the bank goes bust. If you have a joint account, each individual will have up to £85,000 of protection but this individual allowance is spread across both personal and joint accounts. Being regulated also gives you the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are unhappy with how it has addressed any issues you raise.
Starling Bank says it uses advanced data encryption and storing technologies that ensure your personal information and transactions are sent and stored securely. It has acted fast in previous years to warn customers when there have been high profile data breaches of customer data at big brands such as British Airways and Marriott Hotels. But it did say it was reviewing its procedures at the end of 2018 after a customer expressed concern that a link Starling Bank sent to his photo ID could easily be accessed by others.
Can I use my Starling Bank card abroad?
You can take Starling Bank's debit card with you when you travel abroad and spend your money at no extra cost. When spending abroad, Starling Bank exchanges your money to the local currency using the Mastercard interbank exchange rate and does not charge any additional transaction fees. You can also withdraw cash from an ATM abroad with no additional fees, although some foreign ATMs may have separate charges not associated with Starling Bank.
When making a transaction abroad your instant spending notification will tell you how much you have spent in both GBP and the local currency so you can always keep track of your spending. Starling's customer support team are also accessible 24/7 and your card can be easily locked within the app should it get lost or stolen whilst you are abroad. To see how Starling Bank compares to alternate options when abroad, read our article 'Best ways to take money abroad'.
Starling Bank Customer Reviews
Starling Bank has been voted Best British Bank in the British Bank Awards from 2018 - 2022 consecutively. It also won Best Current Account provider in 2019 & 2020 and has been nominated for Which? Banking Brand of the Year in 2023.
Starling Bank uses Trustpilot for its customer reviews and displays them on its website. It has 4.3 out of 5.0 stars based on more than 40,000 reviews and is rated as 'Excellent'. Most users like the budgeting tools and free international transfers and withdrawals. A small proportion, 11% of reviews, described the bank’s service as bad, compared with 76% who deemed it excellent. The main issues were concerns about payments being taken without permission and accounts not being closed when requested.
Starling Bank Alternatives
In the below comparison table, we compare Starling Bank to alternative app-only bank accounts. The comparison is based on the most basic personal account with each of the providers. Some of the providers have other accounts that offer more benefits but these come at an additional cost. For more information on each of the providers mentioned in the below comparison table, read our reviews:
Starling Bank vs Monzo vs Revolut vs Monese
| Starling Bank | Monzo | Revolut | Monese | |
| Monthly Cost (standard account) | FREE | FREE | FREE | FREE |
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| Fee-free spending abroad | |
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| Fee-free cash withdrawals abroad | |
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^limits apply
Partner SpotlightDownload the Revolut app for free
Sign-up to Revolut & get a free card with your Revolut Standard account (delivery fees apply)
- Exchange up to £1000/month with no additional fees charged by Revolut (Monday to Friday)
- Withdraw up to £200 or 5 ATM withdrawals per rolling month, with no withdrawal fees charged by Revolut
- Send money in 29+ currencies
Pros and cons of Starling Bank
Below, we outline some of the pros and cons of using Starling.
Pros of Starling Bank
- Fast and easy to set up
- 24/7 access
- Spending alerts and categorisation
- Fee-free spending abroad
- No monthly fee for the services
- Desktop version for those that wish to bank using a laptop, mac or computer
- Safe and secure
Cons of Starling Bank
- The Marketplace only offers deals with companies Starling works with so they may not be the best rate
- Can only open an account if you are a UK resident
- Cannot get an overdraft on a Starling Bank joint account
- Some of its features are limited to a Starling personal account
Summary
Starling Bank has built a bank fit for the 21st century that you can access whenever you want without having to find a bank branch. It is also doing its bit for the savings culture by encouraging users to save their spare change and introducing people to other financial services offerings such as investing and budgeting tools through its Marketplace that they may never have previously heard of. It also continues to innovate and even protects customers with gambling addictions by allowing them to block gambling transactions.
Starling Bank has a range of great features that really help you to get control of your finances and gain an understanding of where your money goes each month. Its virtual cards feature was recently expanded to joint accounts after it was initially rolled out to personal account holders only. Starling Bank's 1-Year Fixed Saver is still only currently limited to those with a personal current account.
Despite this, Starling Bank’s approach is innovative as it provides both a bank that fits into your pocket but also an app that can boost your whole lifestyle. Its only limit may be that the innovation it has created becomes useless if you run out of battery or have no reception or wi-fi. But on the flip side, it is open 24 hours a day unlike a high street bank. Overall it is not surprising Starling Bank has won so many plaudits.
