Starling Bank, a new digitally-native mobile bank, has secured banking licence from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.
The bank plans to launch its services to customers by January 2017.
Compared to traditional banking where customers’ finances are spread over different accounts, loans and cards, Starling Bank will offers convenience of doing everything from one account.
The bank will use data-led insights to provide detailed picture of customers’ financial situation.
It will offer insights about customers’ spending habits, enabling them to control manage their spending and savings.
Besides, Starling Bank services include benefits from the latest security features, card control technology and real-time notifications.
Starling Bank CEO Anne Boden said: “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.”
Starling Bank has also announced that it will join Faster Payments, the UK’s 24/7 real-time payment service, later in the year.
Anne said: “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.”
A research by Starling Bank showed that 80% of consumers see no differentiation between existing banks.
In October 2015, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in a report that absence of consumer engagement was found to be a primary reason for low switching volumes.
Image: Starling Bank gets banking license in UK. Photo courtesy of Starling Bank.