It is obvious that you won’t get the Mastercard rate when it’s not a Mastercard transaction… it only become a problem when you realise the situation is something different and then you look for someone to blame… hence the reason why the OP in question has posted the same “complaint” on at least 3 forums that i’ve seen today in a blatant attempt to slag off Starling Bank…
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So we all come from legacy banking right, what are barclays santander HSBC et al typically charging as a spread?
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yes, i have just filled the compain with Financial Ombudsman after Staring refused to do anything.
it is too large loss to keep calm.
i wonder why do you defend such practices Brian?
if it is obvious, why there was no information about it - havent seen anywhere in blogs, communities, company’s FAQ and even the pricing policy states unclearly, and further even in app communication didnt inform about this margin of +2.5%?
I believe it is a normal practice to complain if you suffer unexpected losses. Everyone deserves to know about misguidance, so that would not repeat my losses.
I complained in forums and will keep doing it so that the awareness of Starling misleading practices are visible. There should be transparency and accountability for the actions and as of now there is no such.
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I’m not Brian but here’s a few of my thoughts, which are mine alone:
- You’re not going to get the Mastercard rate since it isn’t a Mastercard transaction, so there should be a bit of a red flag there before you proceeded.
- It sounds, from listening to your side, like perhaps Starling wasn’t forthcoming in what their rate is.
- This is still legitimately no fee under current industry-wide practice, no bank refers to their foreign exchange spread as a fee. You can go to a bureau de change in an airport and they’ll take a 15% spread and still tell you there was no fee. So there’s nothing out of the ordinary in that.
All said, it sounds like Starling should be more forthcoming in their rate, I agree with you. I also think that banks should be required to call their exchange rate spread a fee, or at least not be allowed to say ‘no fees’ if there is a buy/sell spread.
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first of all, it is about transparency and being informed how much you pay.
and only then goes the question whether there are alternatives.
i am dissatisfied, because i was misguided by Starling communication about their pricing.
When i know how much i have to pay, it is ok to accept. But this is not the case.
as for the alternatives, Revolut, Xendpay, Transferwise and there are many other much cheaper solutions.
Starling is nothing to compare - exchange rate with +2.5% margin is completely out of league
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Merkitten, it is post factum. Yes, it is now clear that some transactions Starling bank rates as non Mastercard transactions, the problem is that was not appearant/clear before and i believe it is not very communicated still. So your red flag should be waived to all who has illusions that all transactions are with a healthy rate. For me their policy now is clear. My endless talk here is to inform others of not repeating the mistakes and in other ways communicate my belief that it was misguidance.
i know that this +2.5% spread is not officially named a fee, but in essence it is, as you say, and with that i agree. The problem here is that it was nowhere and nohow communicated, just Starling is labeling as “no fees” and “mastercard rate” and … even though in the policy it states about Starling rate for euro transactions, what is this Starling rate - there is no information (so yes, you are right about your second point). Tell me what impression do you get if you are thinking to transfer from UK bank account in euros to Starling, from this pricing policy:
"Adding money to your account
It’s free to add money to your account in the following ways:
• Debit card payments from Starling app
• Transfer from a UK bank account
• Cheque deposits
• Cash deposits
For transfers from overseas accounts, the originator of the payment may have instructed their bank to deduct fees from the transferred amount or charge you an additional fee. For transfers which you receive in Euros, generally we will convert your money into £ sterling at Starling’s daily conversion rate.
We will not charge you a fee for Starling’s services."
Where does that say Mastercard rate? It can’t be Mastercard since it isn’t a Mastercard transaction. It says Starling’s rate. The Mastercard rate is for Mastercard transactions.
That seems very clearly worded to me. The only issues I have:
- I don’t like that a spread can be called no fee. But everyone does it.
- It sounds like their customer service may be misinformed as to their rate.
Maybe it’s because I understand the systems pretty well, but to me it’s pretty obvious a SEPA payment doesn’t run over Mastercard.
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Though it wasn’t a SEPA payment. Sounds like it was a UK bank transfer. (Though that still doesn’t imply Mastercard).
The big problem with that is they say “generally” they will convert at “Starling’s daily conversion rate”. Not always. So when will they and when won’t they, and what will they use when they don’t. Furthermore, the customer service should have informed @skristikitaip what the daily conversion rate was.
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Not knowing much about this specific area. Which UK bank accounts offer euro accounts and are they actually in the UK or just hosted by the bank in another country under the same name?
Yes…Mastercard transaction they treat as Mastercard transactions and use Mastercard rates, but non Mastercard transactions they do not treat as Mastercard transactions, well that is surprising 
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Various high street banks such as HSBC. There are parallel systems in operation for electronic transfers and cheques that operate similar to the GBP ones but are for internal UK use rather than SEPA such as Euro BACS.
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Is the question then : does Starling consider a UK bank GBP only accounts? 
I smell a rat, purely down to the fact that you’ve quoted exchange rates in what looks like the wrong way around… which to me makes me doubt your story.
You quoted rates of 1.13 and 1.16 earlier… is that not if you were converting GBP into EUR?
Surely if EUR is being converted into GBP then the rate should be under 1? ie 0.9 or whatever…?
Or am I just being a naive idiot here?
Starling currently only have systems set up to receive GBP by regular FPS and regular BACS, while they anticipate receiving GBP by SCT (i.e. SEPA).
If they receive EUR by SCT they will convert it to GBP.
Once they have established EUR accounts I hope they would allow for Euro BACS, but initially assume they will concentrate on SCT (SEPA) for receipt of Euro, as Euro BACS is pretty niche due to the minimal number of Euro denominated accounts in the UK, whereas the ability to receive funds from friends, family and firms abroad will be the main use of these new Starling accounts (also it is not yet clear if Euro accounts will only be rolled out in Éire first and follow in the UK at a later date).
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Take the reciprocal of it 
Entertainment seems like top class at these awards 
Here is the full list if you’re wondering;
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I’m sure the lighting doesn’t help, but that colour scheme is atrocious!