It’s a general impression (and certainly not anti-Starling) that Starling is more ‘bank-first’, compared to Monzo which might be more ‘tech’ (or ‘platform’) first. It seems to me that Starling is focussed more on banking (especially with their wider range of accounts and wholesale products). I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Starling became profitable before Monzo - although I see Monzo being the bigger fish over time. If your aim is to become a big player in banking, and you are losing money per customer (or just want to become more profitable) then a packaged account might be a legitimate way to do it.
This is all personal opinion, by the way. Very happy to be corrected on any of it.
That’s interesting. I’m haven’t been left with an impression that they have a particularly strong commitment either way - but that might just be because I don’t know them as well as you do.
(Slightly off-topic, maybe, but I’ve previously expressed doubts about the ‘free banking’ model…)