Emperors New Starling Bank

Neptune

I thought I'd post regarding my personal experience with Starling bank.

I'd heard so much about the new 'challenger' banks, and some of that was even coming from MSE.

Starling and Monzo had many mentions. Much of this seems to stem from two aspects:
1.) You can open an account instantly from the apps.
2.) They are entirely app based.

Because they are app based you'll need a phone that is capable of running the apps, and you used to see a large number of posts on the Starling forums about problems with phones not being able to run the app (yes even brand new ones) as Starling considered them insecure? However Starling wouldn't publish a list of the phones you could use.

Criticism on the forums is almost certainly what lead to Starling closing theirs down.

I've run both accounts now for almost two years, so feel I am able to make a reasonable judgement about them based on that.

In both cases I have to say in most circumstances you can only run these accounts as 'in addition to' bank accounts. Why?

Both Starling and Monzo have no branches, which in fact makes any form of cash / cheque handling almost impossible, yes there are mechanisms in place to handle cash and cheques but they are awkward and costly.

The zero branch approach make CS difficult too.

The biggest problem however is acceptability, and it's an issue both Starling and Monzo choose to ignore. The reality is not all businesses want to handle Starling or Monzo debit cards. This also seems related to the fact the cards are issued by Mastercard, and the way many businesses see these as pre-paid cards or in some circumstances credit cards (such as ASDA, as mentioned later)

Starling seems to be the worst performer in this regard.

ASDA, COSTCO and Three Mobile all refuse to accept Starling cards for all aspects. E.g. ASDA no cashback (they state that Starling cards are credit cards, and they don't issue cashback to credit cards), Costco, no fuel purchases and Three, no address verification using Starling debit card, you'll need and alternative card issuers card, umm, such as Halifax. I've had many instances when I've had to use a Halifax card to complete a transaction. Which begs the question why use Starling at all? Monzo does seem to fair better, and recent improvements to it's app, takes it ahead of Starling in my opinion.

Other retailers also place an authorisation charge against Starlings card, these, normally £1 pre-authorisation can stay against your account for up to 7 days. An online shopping spree can see you without sufficient funds and all the £1 holds start to add up.

Both Monzo and Starling also seem to have a large number of account suspensions, where user accounts are frozen, denying customers access to their funds. The process of investigation seems to be protracted (at least when you could measure this via the forums, now you can read about such issues on Trustpilot etc.)

Reliability is the other aspect. I regularly see status updates about card acceptance issues due to 'network problems'. In addition card and app availability due to 'upgrades' and 'updates'. The even advise ensuring you have another payment method available.... in my case Halifax. Transactions not being processed until days later etc. This seems to highlight the immaturity of the network / software systems that run the app based banks. Something the mainstreams have had decades to resolve. Although this does mean the mainstreams are less agile in terms of innovation, mainly because they seem to prioritise stability and reliability above rapid UI / functionality change.

It would appear Starling and Monzo are there for the novelty factor. They just aren't, in my personal opinion, ready for the mainstream banking market.

The mainstream banks are improving their apps and online banking (Starling doesn't have an online banking fallback when the app fails or you have a network / phone issue).

Almost certainly the need for the mainstream banks to up their game was driven by the newer players. But I for one will be returning to Halifax as my primary account.

fenwick458

best use i've found for them is creating a donor accounts to switch to a proper bank just to gain a switching incentive
they are very quick and easy to set up, you're never going to have to go into a branch to verify you're identity like you do with high street banks

[Deleted User]

I’ve never had issues with anyone not accepting Starling/Monzo or any MC debit cards for that matter and “mid-categorising” them as credit cards..

colsten

I love my Starling accounts - both, the GBP and the Euro one. I don't usually require CS but recently had a slightly unusual request which they dealt with very quickly and professionally. I have no problem with cheques as I usually don't have any to pay in, and even if I did, I could post them to Starling. Paying in cash is easy at a Post office - neither awkward nor costly - - and a massive amount cheaper than if Starling had to operate a bricks & mortar Branch infrastructure. This enables them to pay us a tiny bit of interest - an example of something you get from Starling but not from Halifax. Other examples include notification of incoming payments and great Euro/GBP exchange rates.

The Starling app has 49,520 ratings & reviews on the Apple appstore, with an overall rating of 4.9 out of 5. The vast majority of reviewers gave 4 or 5 stars.

Most of your issues seem to be with the Mastercard rather than with Starling. I think it is a valid point that VISA has a larger market presence but I like to have both, a VISA and a Mastercard, as not even VISA are immune to outages, as we have seen last year, and similar would be true for Mastercard.

For many years, I have made sure I have both, VISA and Mastercard. These were usually credit cards as I prefer to pay for everything on credit cards (which I pay off in full each month, obviously) as I get cashback with CCs, and also Section 75 cover on anything above £100. That said, I have not experienced any problems with my Mastercards but I don't need things like cashback at shop tills - but I note Mastercard is planning to launch a new cashback initiative.

My final point: as has been mentioned on this forum countless times, having just one bank account is a high-risk strategy, as there could be all sorts of reasons for why there are problems with a given account. Which bank accounts you hold shouldn't be an either-or decision but a complementary approach - which for you appears to have been Starling, Monzo and Halifax for the last couple of years. Personally, I wouldn't hold a penny in a current account that doesn't pay interest whilst there are still providers who do pay interest. Naturally, this doesn't stop me from having Halifax Reward accounts, or a First Direct or M&S current account etc etc, as they offer monetary benefits of some sort or other, without needing an ongoing balance.

colsten

fenwick458 wrote: »

best use i've found for them is creating a donor accounts to switch to a proper bank just to gain a switching incentive
they are very quick and easy to set up, you're never going to have to go into a branch to verify you're identity like you do with high street banks

Isn't it Starling who won't let you open another current account within 12 months of switching out?

18cc

Yes you are correct you have to wait 12 months.

System

Neptune wrote: »

It would appear Starling and Monzo are there for the novelty factor. They just aren't, in my personal opinion, ready for the mainstream banking market.

I completely agree with your experiences. I opened a Startling account and found the novelty element annoying. I didn't like the app only approach, but to be fair I was aware of this before I opened it. What did it for me was the marking of pending transactions as reconciled. I've posted about that aspect on here before so won't go into great deal. Suffice to say some things like pay-at-pump transactions appear as a cleared £1 even though the actual transaction was for far more, other transactions like PayPal don't appear until they actually clear, and where businesses place a hold on a certain amount for whatever reason, this appears as a reconciled transaction when it clearly isn't. It's a mess and I don't want to see pending transactions in my transaction ledger until they are cleared. It's pandering to those who operate their accounts with only a cursory glance at the balance to see how much they have to spend. I closed my Starling account within the month.

Thank you for posting this - it's always interesting to hear about the experiences and opinions of others, and equally interesting to see some looking for something in a post to attack!

born_again

The reality is not all businesses want to handle Starling or Monzo debit cards. This also seems related to the fact the cards are issued by Mastercard, and the way many businesses see these as pre-paid cards or in some circumstances credit cards (such as ASDA, as mentioned later)

Well they better get used to Mastercard debit.

Big banks are switching to them. Santander, TSB & First Direct to name but 3.

Mastercard are spending a lot of £££ to get banks to change over from Visa...

Other retailers also place an authorisation charge against Starlings card, these, normally £1 pre-authorisation can stay against your account for up to 7 days. An online shopping spree can see you without sufficient funds and all the £1 holds start to add up.

Just the same as they do with other banks. Only you may not have seen it as not many banks offer the ability to see authorisations.
That £1 will drop off as soon as the full amount is processed.

Transactions not being processed until days later etc. This seems to highlight the immaturity of the network / software systems that run the app based banks. Something the mainstreams have had decades to resolve.

Do you mean that you go shopping on Friday, and the transaction does not show as a debit on your account till Monday or Tuesday? If it is then that is the retailer processing. Not your bank.
Or do you mean something else?

Jasper_Murgin

I didn't know anything about Starling card's Tesco pay at lump £30 authorisation until it sent me into a debit situation today. I made a £20 purchase and Starling debited £30. The explanation was tardy and unacceptable. Using this card makes a mockery of budgeting. I will be closing this account when Starling deem it fit to re credit my account

sal_III

Horses for courses really. I have had Starling as main account for about 18 months and my wife for about 12 months. Neither of us experienced any of the issues in OP. I can get cashback from ASDA too.

The only time I had to cash a cheque in the last 10 years was when I got some compensation from the Developer on our new build home. Used my old HSBC account for that - no problem. Similarly I only had to deposit cash once in the past 10+ years - it was two paper tenners that I found in a rarely used jacked post transition to the new plasticy ones, again HSBC account to the "rescue".

On the other hand I had a lot of headache with the "traditional" bank accounts and the way they handle pending transactions and money spend one day can show for a couple of days later in your statement. I expense my travel, so need to know how much I spend on travel in the weekdays. If HSBC decides to file a transaction from Friday in Saturday - I'm out of pocket. Not so much with Starling.

No fee on transactions and cash withdrawals abroad, also major factor.

The only point I agree with OP is that Starling shouldn't be your only bank account - which is true for absolutely any account. No sane person relies on only 1 current account.

d123

Neptune wrote: »

I've run both accounts now for almost two years, so feel I am able to make a reasonable judgement about them based on that.

In both cases I have to say in most circumstances you can only run these accounts as 'in addition to' bank accounts. Why?

Both Starling and Monzo have no branches, which in fact makes any form of cash / cheque handling almost impossible, yes there are mechanisms in place to handle cash and cheques but they are awkward and costly.

Perhaps if you had realised that you can use the Post Office for banking services for Starling, it's free to deposit cash.

Neptune wrote: »

The biggest problem however is acceptability, and it's an issue both Starling and Monzo choose to ignore. The reality is not all businesses want to handle Starling or Monzo debit cards. This also seems related to the fact the cards are issued by Mastercard, and the way many businesses see these as pre-paid cards or in some circumstances credit cards (such as ASDA, as mentioned later)

Starling seems to be the worst performer in this regard.

ASDA, COSTCO and Three Mobile all refuse to accept Starling cards for all aspects. E.g. ASDA no cashback (they state that Starling cards are credit cards, and they don't issue cashback to credit cards), Costco, no fuel purchases and Three, no address verification using Starling debit card, you'll need and alternative card issuers card, umm, such as Halifax. I've had many instances when I've had to use a Halifax card to complete a transaction. Which begs the question why use Starling at all? Monzo does seem to fair better, and recent improvements to it's app, takes it ahead of Starling in my opinion.

I haven't had any problems with either Three or Asda using a Starling card, I can remember Asda not accepting Monzo cards for a while, are you confusing the two?

Neptune wrote: »

Both Monzo and Starling also seem to have a large number of account suspensions, where user accounts are frozen, denying customers access to their funds. The process of investigation seems to be protracted (at least when you could measure this via the forums, now you can read about such issues on Trustpilot etc.)

Probably due to the easier account opening and fraudulent applicants getting caught with the checks after account opening.

Neptune wrote: »

Reliability is the other aspect. I regularly see status updates about card acceptance issues due to 'network problems'. In addition card and app availability due to 'upgrades' and 'updates'.

Neptune wrote: »

The even advise ensuring you have another payment method available.... in my case Halifax.

Good advice, no matter who you bank with, never rely on a single account.

Neptune wrote: »

Transactions not being processed until days later etc. This seems to highlight the immaturity of the network / software systems that run the app based banks. Something the mainstreams have had decades to resolve.

I can't remember a transaction with either Starling or Monzo ever being anything but instantaneous.