UK-Based Digital Bank Starling Raises $70 Mln

Starling Bank, a digital banking corporation based in the UK, has raised $70 million to make a foray into the UK banking market, Financial Times reported on Monday. It aims to attract mobile-focused customers and offer a superior current account service to those offered by the existing high street banks.

The investment has been received from Harald McPike, the founder of QuantRes, a Bahamas-based quantitative investment manager.

“Starling Bank will provide people with the kind of innovative leaps in their financial lives that they have experienced in transportation and video streaming, so this is an investment opportunity I could not pass up,” he said.

The bank, founded by Anne Boden, follows two digitally-based challengers – Atom Bank and Tandem – that received regulatory approval for launch last year. Starling bank has applied to the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and awaits approval.

Ms Boden said: “Our aim is clear — to bring about a revolution in retail banking, by developing an account architecture, using the latest available technology, designed to meet the needs of the modern customer.”

Starling also announced the appointment of Oliver Stocken as chairman. Stocken previously served as a non-executive director of Standard Chartered. Moreover, FCA alumna Victoria Raffé and ex-senior employees at QuantRes – Marcus Traill and Craig Mawdsley – are joining as non-executive directors. Lloyd’s insurance broker RFIB chairman Mark Winlow and Lloyds Banking Group CFO Steve Colsell were appointed earlier in 2015.