Thank goodness!
(Although the white is really bothering me, it’s a step in the right direction)
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A bit of Starling history. The decision to end the user forum. As one of the former Starling “Gurus” (not my choice 
), it’s a fascinating reminder of why forums such as this didn’t work for Anne and the team…
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Starling have always been like that. I’ve had an account with them for a few years already.
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I’ve only ever posted a cheque to bank once, back before cheque imaging was a thing.
I posted it to Tesco Bank via their specific freepost address, and it cleared within a few days. I was very impressed and it was a positive experience - only having taken about a day or two more than it would if I had traipsed into a bank branch.
So sometimes posting a cheque works well!
Since then, cheque imaging has launched at various banks and all the cheques I have received have been below the limit so I’ve never needed to go to a bank or post a cheque again.
And, as for the topic of multiple devices, Starling have always supported multiple devices logged in to the account from day one. I think all Fintechs should as a second device is a useful backup if your primary one is lost or stolen - and many people have a tablet as well as phone.
Starling’s iPad app is therefore very useful in this regard.
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That statement could easily have been written by Monzo, all that is “wrong” with their forum applies here too.
I think Monzo probably like the free customer support that this place gives.
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Possibly the prime motivation for not closing it.
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4 posts were merged into an existing topic: Contactless Limit at £100
Starling makes the Spectator. Nothing particularly new, but an interesting read. I’m not keen on the click-bate inclusion of Monzo in the headline, though - the article isn’t really a comparison.
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I think the key part to Starling’s success is less about its “corporateness” (compared to Monzo) and more about them having diverse income streams such as enterprise services (for other banks/financial institutions) and offering business accounts (back when they started there wasn’t any other option for a modern business bank - only e-money institutions).
This allowed them to grow slowly and accumulate customers over time while the “growth & engagement”-funded competitors dropped the ball, either in terms of quality of service or lack of features. Starling is playing the long game and it seems to be paying off.
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Starling, on the face of it, seems to be translating lower cost bases into cheaper products. Free personal and fully-featured business accounts (the latter is still very rare), cheaper overdrafts, and the holy grail; free foreign cash withdrawals.
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I wonder whether many Monzo staff have moved to work for Starling?
Monthly reminder that Starling also juiced the CBILS scheme royally and had that business account grant, before we get too grand about the reasons for new found profit
Neither is a stick to beat them with, probably the opposite as Anne pulled on all her connections, legitimately I am sure, but their financial position was not spectacularly different till last year otherwise
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I wonder if a world pandemic that would enable them to lend out £2 billion of taxpayer money with zero credit risk was in their business plan 
I’ll be really interested to see where Starling are this time next year - Once the forecast ~50% of BBLS loans have defaulted and their new lending is being booked under IFRS 9 with > 0% credit risk. For context, IFRS 9 is a killer for any company quickly growing their lending book since you have to book your next year of losses upfront!
I really hope they can ride the wave though - They’re doing a great job of advancing finance and banking in the UK (along with other fintech banks)!
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12 posts were merged into an existing topic: Monzo / Starling founders discussion
I’ve spun out the Tom/Anne chat into a separate topic. Anyone who wants to continue the conversation, it’s here:
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2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Monzo / Starling founders discussion
I just saw an advert for Starling Bank on TV. I thought it was a bit boring but it did get the advantages of Starling across.
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So the reason I haven’t been using the Monzo community as much lately is… I CASS’d my personal and joint accounts over to Starling.
I’m still happy with that decision. The CS has been great, I like the options for mobile/web banking and the app feels very streamlined and simple which I like.
I’d still recommend Monzo too, but right now I’m ‘Full Starling’.
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That’s a shame. I’ve recommended a business account to three friends who are all company directors, and they all found it a breeze. Horses for courses I suppose. Still there’s always room for improvement, maybe Starling will take on the feedback?
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