Digital challenger financial institution Starling is not going to proceed with its utility for a banking licence in Eire, after deciding that an Irish subsidiary wouldn’t ship sufficient worth.
The app-based financial institution will now put extra give attention to promoting its banking software-as-a-service providing to different banks globally.
It had efficiently navigated the primary stage of making use of to the Financial institution of Eire for a licence and had been invited to submit its full utility, which might have enabled it to supply banking providers throughout the European Union.
“We now have now concluded that market circumstances and the financial institution’s personal growth plans imply that securing an Irish banking licence is now not a prime precedence,” mentioned a press release from the financial institution. “It has due to this fact determined to not proceed with the ultimate stage.”
The UK financial institution had set its sights on a banking licence in Eire as a part of a deliberate growth throughout Europe. The venture was briefly placed on maintain in the course of the pandemic and later revived with plans that additionally included a banking-as-a-service proposition for EU clients.
Starling acquired its banking licence in 2016 and launched the next 12 months. In October 2020, it made its first month-to-month revenue of £800,000, changing into the primary UK digital challenger financial institution to take action.
The UK fintech unicorn has greater than two million buyer accounts, together with greater than 300,000 small enterprise accounts. Its complete lending exceeds £2bn and it has greater than £5.4bn deposited with it.
Anne Boden, founder and CEO of Starling, mentioned ending the applying was was a troublesome name to make as a result of the corporate has had Eire in its sights for thus lengthy. “Typically altering course is the fitting choice,” she mentioned. “My job as CEO is to continually check our considering towards evolving circumstances and to ensure we’re delivering worth and maximising potential for progress. Finally, we felt that an Irish subsidiary wouldn’t ship the added worth we’re looking for.
“I want to thank our wonderful Irish crew, who’ve labored so laborious on this.”
Starling just lately introduced plans to scale its banking-as-a-service and software-as-a-service propositions worldwide, which is an space of focus going ahead.