Starling Bank, a digital challenger bank founded in 2014 by former Allied Irish Bank COO Anne Boden, has been granted a UK banking licence by the UK’s Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The mobile bank, expected to formally launch in January 2017, will allow customers to do everything from one account and help customers gain insights on their spending habits.
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Starling Bank will also incorporate advanced security features, card control technology and real-time notifications.
Starling Bank CEO Anne Boden said: “We are delighted to have the confidence and support of the regulator, to move forward and introduce a new style of banking. For the past year, our team has been focused on building our product and technology from the ground up.
“By 2020, the number of UK mobile banking users will double from 17.8 million to 32.6 million and our aim is to empower these people to better manage their finances with an incredible app, purpose-built for those who happily manage their lives on their phone.”
Moreover, the bank has also committed to join UK’s real-time payment service Faster Payments later in 2016.
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By GlobalData“Starling Bank is on track to be the first next-generation bank to connect directly to the Faster Payments system. This will allow us to offer the best possible payments experience to our customers and partners,” Bode said.
Till now, the bank has received $70m of investment from Harald McPike, the founder of Bahamas-based quantitative investment manager QuantRes.
