Talk to me about Starling Bank...
Discussion
I started an account for the sole purpose of using it on holiday. No fees and good rates for using it at ATMs , only whatever the ATM charges but there are some that don't charge for withdrawing cash. You can use it to pay as well and MasterCard is widely accepted. One disadvantage is you don't get the Section 75 protection which applies to most credit cards. Usual app features but I don't really use them.
I use Metro Bank for EU use been using them for about 4 years. I have just signed upto N26 as well to test that out.
Metro has been good though as they have 2 branches in my town and offer Google Pay. I'm a Barclays Premier customer but my local branch closed down, Barclays also don't offer Google Pay.
Metro has been good though as they have 2 branches in my town and offer Google Pay. I'm a Barclays Premier customer but my local branch closed down, Barclays also don't offer Google Pay.
All good as far as I'm concerned. I use it for small and not so small purchases abroad, good ROE and no commission.
Only slight glitch I had was when I wanted to draw €300 from an ATM in Spain. I aborted the transaction because I didn't accept the charge the ATM owner was going to make and my Starling a/c was debited. It took 8 days for the funds to be released back on to my a/c. Not a major problem for me, but could have been a nuisance for someone on a short trip as Starling's daily cash withdrawal limit is £300 and therefore I couldn't use my card to try another ATM until the next day. For someone solely carrying a Starling card with say only £300 on it, they wouldn't have been able to use the card at all for 8 days.
Only slight glitch I had was when I wanted to draw €300 from an ATM in Spain. I aborted the transaction because I didn't accept the charge the ATM owner was going to make and my Starling a/c was debited. It took 8 days for the funds to be released back on to my a/c. Not a major problem for me, but could have been a nuisance for someone on a short trip as Starling's daily cash withdrawal limit is £300 and therefore I couldn't use my card to try another ATM until the next day. For someone solely carrying a Starling card with say only £300 on it, they wouldn't have been able to use the card at all for 8 days.
AJB88 said:
I use Metro Bank for EU use been using them for about 4 years. I have just signed upto N26 as well to test that out.
Metro has been good though as they have 2 branches in my town and offer Google Pay. I'm a Barclays Premier customer but my local branch closed down, Barclays also don't offer Google Pay.
Just as an aside, I was looking at N26 for additional banking needs. They've come under scrutiny in Germany for potential fraudulent payments and customers' complaints for them being difficult to contact or resolve problems.Metro has been good though as they have 2 branches in my town and offer Google Pay. I'm a Barclays Premier customer but my local branch closed down, Barclays also don't offer Google Pay.
Starling are great, a breath of fresh air.
Not related to the OPs question, but if not a new bank, I can highly recommend Natwest, they seem to be as close to getting their heads around 21st Century Banking as anyone.
Earlier this week I logged into my App and they told me I had 5 days to update it for new cools stuff, so I did. In the app I was able to increase my credit limit on my card, which was neat. But I can now go into my credit card transactions and any purchases between £300 and £3000 can be pulled out of the planned payment schedule and put on a payment plan over a period up to two years. So if you make a one-off or unusual purchase that would be better put on credit for cash-flow reasons, you can move it to a pseudo credit approach, where they give you the cost upfront and sort the payments via your existing setup. The costs look fairly cheap, but they're in pounds rather than percent, I just know they're lower than if you just stopped paying off the card in full each month until you can afford to. You can end the credit early too.
Anyway, I thought that was a really clever use of the platform and a really useful service if you need to smooth cashflow on large purchases.
Not related to the OPs question, but if not a new bank, I can highly recommend Natwest, they seem to be as close to getting their heads around 21st Century Banking as anyone.
Earlier this week I logged into my App and they told me I had 5 days to update it for new cools stuff, so I did. In the app I was able to increase my credit limit on my card, which was neat. But I can now go into my credit card transactions and any purchases between £300 and £3000 can be pulled out of the planned payment schedule and put on a payment plan over a period up to two years. So if you make a one-off or unusual purchase that would be better put on credit for cash-flow reasons, you can move it to a pseudo credit approach, where they give you the cost upfront and sort the payments via your existing setup. The costs look fairly cheap, but they're in pounds rather than percent, I just know they're lower than if you just stopped paying off the card in full each month until you can afford to. You can end the credit early too.
Anyway, I thought that was a really clever use of the platform and a really useful service if you need to smooth cashflow on large purchases.
I moved all my day-to-day personal banking to Starling earlier this month.
For a basic 'full service' current I genuinely can't see the benefit of the 'big banks' these days. The app is great; instant notifications; I can see payments the working day before they come out (or, in the case of salaries, in!). FSCS protected to the usual limit and they pay a (minuscule) amount of interest; I can pay cash in over the counter at my village Post Office if I ever need to.
I even like the cards!
Can't fault them so far.
For a basic 'full service' current I genuinely can't see the benefit of the 'big banks' these days. The app is great; instant notifications; I can see payments the working day before they come out (or, in the case of salaries, in!). FSCS protected to the usual limit and they pay a (minuscule) amount of interest; I can pay cash in over the counter at my village Post Office if I ever need to.
I even like the cards!
Can't fault them so far.
Another Starling customer here, for the very reason as the OP.
So far, I have never had a problem with them, and I've been more than happy. easy to transfer money to from my main bank account, and as others have said, instant notification when I receive or spend money.
The only downside is I won't use the card online as they don't currently support 3d Secure, but after talking to a colleague, they will be implementing it when 3DS 2 comes along. For total openess, Starling are a customer of the company I work for.
Another colleague uses them as an everyday bank.
So far, I have never had a problem with them, and I've been more than happy. easy to transfer money to from my main bank account, and as others have said, instant notification when I receive or spend money.
The only downside is I won't use the card online as they don't currently support 3d Secure, but after talking to a colleague, they will be implementing it when 3DS 2 comes along. For total openess, Starling are a customer of the company I work for.
Another colleague uses them as an everyday bank.
Considering switching to them too as a small business account as the high street bank has just put its prices up. Infuriatingly it is also the one that never takes its statements quite to the end of the month!
I always siphon off money to a savings acct to prepare to pay quarterly VAT - does this current account also come with a savings account?
Also am I right in that you dont have the same protections against retailers as you do using a std high st banks' Visa Debit card?
Any gotchas like big costs for Xero feeds etc?
All good in general - can you talk to someone of there is a problem rather than use Twitter etc!!?
I always siphon off money to a savings acct to prepare to pay quarterly VAT - does this current account also come with a savings account?
Also am I right in that you dont have the same protections against retailers as you do using a std high st banks' Visa Debit card?
Any gotchas like big costs for Xero feeds etc?
All good in general - can you talk to someone of there is a problem rather than use Twitter etc!!?
Tyre Smoke said:
Can't comment on their business account, but there are home and abroad phone numbers on their debit card.
Don't think there is any option to link to Xero or Quickbooks. You would have to upload a statement as CSV I expect.
No idea about a savings account.
They do Xero and they do a 'pot' that you can assign funds to it seems, rather than a separate account. Probably makes more sense and easier as money coming back from savings will never then look like income...as I currently have to manually tell Xero its not profit!Don't think there is any option to link to Xero or Quickbooks. You would have to upload a statement as CSV I expect.
No idea about a savings account.
Signed up to them last year when I went to America on honeymoon and it was fantastic. Easy to just transfer and it's in there straight away. Fees are good, better than going to the Bereau de rip off. Have used it in Prague too and the wife's going to use it in Greece next week.
They also have a Euro bank account which you can get hold of, think they will charge 0.4% comission on it in a few months but right now you just get the normal bank exchange rate. Which is handy for us in a post-Brexit scenario.
They also have a Euro bank account which you can get hold of, think they will charge 0.4% comission on it in a few months but right now you just get the normal bank exchange rate. Which is handy for us in a post-Brexit scenario.
sgtBerbatov said:
They also have a Euro bank account which you can get hold of, think they will charge 0.4% comission on it in a few months but right now you just get the normal bank exchange rate. Which is handy for us in a post-Brexit scenario.
I opened a EUR account with them a couple of months ago and transferred some £s into it. I then planned on using the EUR to draw cash and/or buy goods in Europe. This isn't possible, the EUR a/c isn't linked to their cards and cash withdrawals and purchases will only be debited to the GBP a/c.The only use for the EUR a/c that I could establish is that it provides the facility to remit EUR to another EUR bank a/c. If I need to do that, I use Transferwise. I suppose one could buy EUR when the GBP is strong and hold the EUR until the rate moves and then transfer them back into GBP and make a profit.
You'd have to have s lot of cash tied up to make it worthwhile though.
Anyway, so far, so good. It's doing exactly what I need it to. In fact, I'm depositing/transferring
cash and using it as cash. My number 1 account is just dealing with DD and boring stuff. I've actually stopped carrying significant cash (used to always have £30-50) now only carry a tenner in change at the most for car parks, etc.
Anyway, so far, so good. It's doing exactly what I need it to. In fact, I'm depositing/transferring
cash and using it as cash. My number 1 account is just dealing with DD and boring stuff. I've actually stopped carrying significant cash (used to always have £30-50) now only carry a tenner in change at the most for car parks, etc.
I keep debating getting an account with the likes of Starling or Monzo but I'm still struggling to see the day to day benefits.
I use Apple Pay and I use a debit card with my current bank. I don't travel masses and in the nicest possible way I don't have to keep a close track of my spending to avoid getting into difficult.
I suspect there may be a bit of FOMO which is embarrassing but perhaps true
What am I missing?
I use Apple Pay and I use a debit card with my current bank. I don't travel masses and in the nicest possible way I don't have to keep a close track of my spending to avoid getting into difficult.
I suspect there may be a bit of FOMO which is embarrassing but perhaps true
What am I missing?
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