Starling Bank expands to Ireland, eyes “the whole world”
Anne Boden, Starling
London-based challenger bank Starling has received a banking passport into Ireland. The bank says this is “its first step in its plans to provide services to European markets”.
According to Anne Boden, the bank’s founder and CEO, “the aim of Starling was always to ensure that the whole world could benefit from the opportunity of a healthy financial life”.
Starling is a digital-only bank that offers a current account that it claims can be set up “within two minutes of downloading the app with a valid photo ID”.
The bank is pouring money into marketing and keeping a high profile, with a raft of announcements, participation in conferences and events, social media and other promotional activities.
It is also building an online community and a marketplace.
UPDATE 27 June 2017: Starling has become a direct agency sponsor for Vocalink’s PayPort Service, offering access to Faster Payments for other financial institutions and payment service providers (PSPs) using the Vocalink PayPort FPS Gateway.
Starling already uses Vocalink’s Pay by Bank mobile payment app for its customers.
