AMP Bank and Salt Bank tap Starling’s Engine platform for digital banking offerings
Australia’s AMP Bank and Salt Bank in Romania have been named as the two latest adopters of Starling Bank’s Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) technology platform Engine.
Starling Bank extends BaaS to AMP and Salt Bank
Launched as a subsidiary of the UK digital bank in March 2022, Engine enables banks and financial institutions to build their own banking propositions using the same core technology that Starling operates on.
AMP’s adoption of the BaaS, which aligns with Starling’s ambition to launch the platform in APAC, will power the Sydney-based bank’s plans to build its own digital banking offering.
Scheduled to be built in FY24 and launched in Q1 2025, AMP says the app-based offering will include transaction and savings accounts for small businesses and sole traders.
It is currently seeking $60 million in investment to bring the offering into fruition, $40 million of which will be capitalised.
AMP chief executive Alexis George explains the the offering seeks to target “an under-served and growing segment of the market” and will “reshape the bank portfolio in the medium term” with regard to funding.
Likewise, Bucharest-based Salt Bank, formerly known as Idea Bank and operating as a subsidiary of Banca Transilvania Financial Group, harbours similar intentions to leverage the Engine platform to power its own retail banking offering; subject to the National Bank of Romania’s approval.
Salt Bank plans for the app-based offering to go live next year, and will apply Starling’s BaaS to onboard customers digitally, provide savings accounts, process payments, and manage unsecured lending products.
The Engine platform will also enable it to monitor financial crime and manage payment operations, loan servicing and collections.
Salt Bank CEO Gabriela Nistor says the deal aligns with its ambition to “disrupt the banking market in Romania” and cites the platform’s alleged success in powering Starling’s UK operations as a driver behind its adoption.
