Starling Bank is a UK digital challenger bank that operates through its mobile app, with no physical branches. Founded in 2014 by Anne Boden, it holds a full UK banking licence and serves over 4.6m customer accounts.
Personal current accounts: Fee-free banking with real-time notifications and budgeting tools
Business accounts: Tailored for SMEs and sole traders, with invoicing and multi-currency support; over 400,000 business accounts
Lending: Personal loans, overdrafts and buy-to-let mortgages via subsidiary Fleet Mortgages
Engine by Starling: A software-as-a-service (SaaS) core banking platform licensed to institutions globally, live in Romania and Australia
Marketplace: Curated third-party financial products including pensions and insurance
Starling operates as a digital-only bank with lower costs than high-street rivals. Its revenue model blends traditional banking income with a growing technology licensing arm.
Revenue comes from several key streams:
Interest income: The largest revenue source; Starling earns interest on deposits placed with the Bank of England and on its lending book, including buy-to-let mortgages.
Interchange fees: A small percentage earned from merchants each time a customer uses their Starling debit card; card spend reached £21bn in FY2025.
Service and subscription fees: Charges for SWIFT transfers (£5.50), currency conversion (0.4% markup) and overdraft usage
Lending: Interest from personal and business loans, Covid-era government lending schemes and Fleet Mortgages
Engine SaaS licensing: Recurring fees from licensing core banking technology to other institutions, targeting a global market Starling estimates at £100bn
Business Toolkit subscriptions: Premium features at £7/month, including invoicing and multi-user access
Starling has not confirmed an official IPO date. In January 2026, CEO Raman Bhatia told the Sunday Times he was “non-committal” on both timing and venue, stating the decision rests with shareholders.
However, the bank has taken steps consistent with IPO preparation. In October 2025 it created a new holding company structure, and it has engaged Morgan Stanley and Rothschild for a secondary share sale targeting a £3.5-4bn valuation.
Adding uncertainty, City AM reported in February 2026 that top shareholder Harald McPike had withdrawn support for a London listing over frustration with City regulatory reform. This has raised the prospect of a New York IPO. Any timeline remains speculative and an IPO is not guaranteed.
Starling’s 2022 funding round valued the bank at £2.5bn, but Jupiter’s stake sale in 2023 marked it down to roughly £1.5bn. The current secondary share sale targets £3.5-4bn.
At £4bn against £714m revenue, Starling would trade at about 5.6 times revenue. By comparison, Revolut achieved $75bn in its 2024 secondary sale. Traditional UK banks trade at much lower multiples, reflecting slower growth.
Valuations shift with market conditions, interest rates and regulatory events. Any estimates remain speculative until a formal IPO filing is submitted. Capital at risk.
Starling reported £714m revenue for the year ending March 2025, up from £682m the prior year, according to its own report for the period. Statutory pre-tax profit fell to £223m from £301m, driven by the £29m Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fine and Covid-era loan provisions. Underlying pre-tax profit was £281m, marking a fourth consecutive profitable year. Return on tangible equity was 17.9% and net interest margin stood at 4.12%.
The bank holds surplus capital exceeding £400m above regulatory buffers, a 40% year-on-year increase. It serves 4.6m accounts, with 3m active core accounts. While growth has slowed from the 50% revenue jump between FY2023 and FY2024, steady profitability and strong capitalisation may be viewed positively by some market participants, although income concentration and regulatory risks remain relevant. However, a large share of income depends on interest rates, which introduces risk if rates fall.
Starling has four consecutive years of profitability behind it, a full banking licence and a SaaS platform it can license globally. Engine by Starling is live with banks in Romania and Australia, giving the company a second revenue stream beyond traditional banking.
Brand recognition is another factor some investors may consider.. Starling has been recommended by Which? for six years running and holds an industry-leading net promoter score of 63, according to its own May 2025 report. Its August 2025 acquisition of accounting startup Ember signals a push to deepen SME tools and improve customer retention.
Key investors include Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, the Qatar Investment Authority and Harald McPike, who holds around a third of the company. The secondary share sale could clarify investor appetite ahead of any IPO. Past performance is not a guide to future results. All investments carry risk.
Regulatory risk is the most pressing concern. In October 2024, the FCA fined Starling £29m for what the regulator described as failures in financial sanctions screening. The bank opened over 54,000 accounts for high-risk customers in breach of agreed restrictions.
Starling has invested in remediation, but further regulatory action could delay IPO plans.
Profitability faces pressure. Statutory profit fell 26% in FY2025, and net interest margin is declining. A drop in UK interest rates could squeeze Starling’s largest income source. Unlike Revolut, which earns from forex, crypto and subscriptions, Starling remains heavily dependent on interest income.
Competition is fierce. Revolut now serves over 50 million customers globally. Monzo has surpassed 14 million users. Traditional banks and JPMorgan’s Chase UK are investing heavily in digital offerings. Venue uncertainty between London and New York adds IPO-specific risk.
The UK digital banking market is competitive. Key rivals include:
Revolut: 50 million customers globally, valued at $75bn. Broad product range spanning multi-currency accounts, crypto and stock trading
Monzo: 14 million UK customers. Consumer-focused with growing lending and subscription products
Chase UK (JPMorgan): Well-funded digital current account launched in 2021, competing on savings rates and cashback
Traditional banks: Barclays [BARC], HSBC [HSBA], NatWest [NWG] and Lloyds [LLOY] are all investing in mobile banking
Starling differs from some peers through its banking licence, recent profitability and Engine SaaS platform, although each of these areas also carries execution and regulatory considerations. Listed peers such as Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and Lloyds may provide market context, although their business models and risk profiles differ from Starling’s.
Starling is currently private. If a listing were to proceed, availability would depend on the final offer structure, investor eligibility and whether a broker provides access to the relevant market.
Open a spread betting or CFD trading account
With our pre-IPO market, you can take a position on Starling through a spread bet or CFD trade ahead of its listing, and speculate on whether its price will rise or fall against our expected listing price after its IPO.
Practise with a demo account
If you’re unfamiliar with leveraged trading, you can open a demo account to practise trading with virtual funds. Familiarise yourself with pricing, volatility, and managing risk before trading with real capital.
Your position rolls into the listed market
Once Starling lists on a stock exchange and its shares start trading in the underlying market, your position rolls into our listed share spread bet or CFD. This means your position continues, and you retain full control over when to close it.
What happens if the IPO is cancelled
If the Starling IPO is cancelled or doesn't happen for any reason, your open positions will be closed at the price they were opened, and no profit or loss will be realised.
Sources
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/46959/monzo-tops-14m-customers
https://news.crunchbase.com/fintech/revolut-valuation-spikes-secondary-share-sale/
https://financialit.net/news/digital-banking/starling-reports-strong-revenue-and-invests-growth
https://fintechwales.org/news/starling-group-reports-fourth-consecutive-year-of-profitability-a mid-global-expansion-and-technological-innovation/
https://www.starlingbank.com/investors/2025/annual-report-2025/
https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/114397-03
https://www.fstech.co.uk/fst/Starling_Reshapes_Corporate_Structure.php
https://techfundingnews.com/starling-bank-preps-4b-secondary-share-sale-as-it-eyes-us-exp ansion-and-ipo/
https://www.cityam.com/exclusive-starlings-top-investor-withdraws-support-for-london-ipo/
https://thepaypers.com/fintech/news/starling-bank-explores-a-us-ipo-as-part-of-expansion-pl an
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-fines-starling-bank-failings-financial-crime-sy stems-and-controls
https://bayelsawatch.com/starling-bank-statistics/ https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/revolut-worth-75b-after-secondary-share-sale
