Starling Bank - London

Reece Gunningham

WORST BANKING APP

Last year, just before the law changed to make it a legal requirement for banks to refund scam victims, I was scammed on the Starling platform out of thousands of pounds.

The way my claim and complaint has been handled by starling since has been nothing short of a nightmare. Biased is an understatement from their team.

They have their own claims and departments team which is essentially like marking your own homework. Of course, they don't find themselves at fault.

What I find astounding is that they simply ignored all my valid points in their response letter, twice now, and watered down my complaint in the letter. For example, the account name I typed in when sending the payment said in ORANGE text - ' this account name does not match exactly. The important word is 'exactly'.

The complaint I have made to them is that this message is misleading and played a key role in the scam. I wouldn't never conceivably send money to anyone if the error was RED and said 'this account name does not match'. But it was not.

They refuse to add this to my complaint.

Further, the payment was put on hold and I explained this to them on the phone. I told them about the account name and they said absolutely nothing about it. It is only 12 months later that they are making up some excuse which doesn't change anything.

They refuse to add this to my complaint. Specifically Amy and Rob form Starling complaints team.

You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Liam Cook

Used to love Starling, used for 5 years but clearly they don’t care anymore. Gave 21000£ of my business money to the government AFTER my company was restored. We missed the confirmation statement date, accounts were frozen only by starling, company was restored and then AFTER starling sent the money to the government and won’t respond on chat,, saying we will get back to you in 15 days!? Literal theft the company was active. Many better options available.

Navarino Greenwood

On the plus side, it’s great having fee free cash withdrawals whilst abroad. On the downside - well, there are lots. Every single in-store purchase I have tried to make this year have been declined - even though there is plenty of cash in the account. Starling keep repeating that’s it’s because I have used an incorrect pin which is nonsense. I know my own pin! Everytime I unblock the pin boom it seemingly blocks itself again. The result? Lots of embarrassing declined payments in shops. Nightmare.

N

Great Bank with tools not like other traditional banks, like Saving Spaces. T
Online 100% only but very customer focused phone support. Paying in of cheques can be a pain trying to get them into the box.

Would recommend to anyone who is comfortable with a smart phone and talking. If you prefer a counter service bank, it's not for you.

No Spam

Once a great Bank, now tragically fallen by lack of care and competence.

A simple 5-minute vendor initiated payment reversal request turned into 3 days of stress, incompetency, and lack of care, CONFIRMED by the Complaints Handling team.

Starling Complaints handling team implicitly agreed that:
a) Their chat Support team and Payments teams did not review all of the information provided,
b) I had provided all of the information in chat/conversations/evidence,
c) he couldn't have done anything differently; they would not reconsider them to reject the complaint.

They instead deferred me to the financial ombudsman, KNOWING that this was an internal customer service matter and not a part of their scope.

This is a shameless demonstration of Starling Bank's tragic downfall in customer service.

All they needed to do was to take responsibility for such a simple matter.

I didn't believe the recent wave of negative reviews, but it's clear from this behaviour that I must switch to a more competent bank in case something more serious happens and fall to the same issues as many of the others.

I told the Complaints Handling agent that I'll post this review exactly as I have, and they didn't care. This says it all!

Yes - they're cheap, but you have a lot more to lose!

david conroy

CAUTION FOR NEW ACCOUNTS!!!
Whilst Starling is a UK regulated banking app, be very wary if you open a new account and receive any money from, a friend, relative or other acquaintance and don't complete the online forms to say whether this was gift, wage, debt or simply a payment for a shared meal, they will freeze your account, stop any DD's or mortgage payments and leave you in financial limbo for 28 days whilst they investigate.
Their app is great however they don't have the banking clout or experience of any of the other available banking organisations.
It's all good.....until there's an issue
Be warned!!

Brightwave Media Agency

As a small business owner, I recently tried to open a business account with Starling Bank, expecting a smooth and straightforward process, especially since I’m already an existing customer with a personal and joint account. Unfortunately, the experience turned out to be quite frustrating.

The amount of documentation they requested was excessive. It almost felt like I was dealing with a government agency! Despite being an established customer, I was bombarded with requests for various documents, some of which felt redundant given that they already have my personal details on file. What should have been a seamless onboarding process turned into an overly complex and time-consuming ordeal.

I appreciate that banks need to conduct due diligence, but the extent of the paperwork demanded didn’t feel proportional. For a bank that prides itself on being digital-first and user-friendly, this experience was far from it. The process lacked the simplicity and efficiency I had expected from Starling, especially given their reputation for being a modern, hassle-free alternative to traditional banks.

If you’re considering Starling for your small business, be prepared for a potentially long and frustrating setup process, even if you're already a customer. It’s a shame because their banking app and features are great, but this experience left me questioning their efficiency when it comes to business banking.

Labindra Subedi

One of the worst bank I have ever seen in my life.
First of they closed my account for no reasons. I was expecting refund from some merchants on starling bank since it was closed they didn’t give me an access.
After the money came in to my account they notify me until I called them and asked them if I got refund on my account or not.
After knowing I had received money in the account I requested money to my own account which they are lingering for 2 weeks
. When ever I approach them they always say they are investigating and reviewing
Meanwhile they haven’t even asked me for any supporting documents if they are doing investigating. Seems like they are making excuses to steal my money.
They shouldn’t be allowed to operate in the UK for violating the financial regulations set by FCA. They are doing the day light robbery.Because of them I have gone through mental stress and anxiety.
Don’t do any transactions through this bank.
They will steal your money on the name of review and investigation.
Be aware !!!!!