Starling Bank听has been crowned听the UK鈥檚 most innovative FinTech听after securing backing from both a high-profile judging panel and our readers.听
The digital bank听was听No.1听on the听100 FinTech Disrupters听ranking for 2020听ahead of听all-your-cards-in-one banking app听Curve听and Currensea, a debit card for overseas payments.听
With 1.6 million accounts,听Starling听has fewer customers than its fellow London-based听neobanks听Revolut听and Monzo听but,听unlike its rivals,听is closing on breaking even by the end of the year.听
Its strategy of on-boarding high-value customers seems to be paying off as it eyes a path to profitability.听It was also the only one of the 鈥榖ig three鈥� not to furlough any staff when COVID-19 hit.听
鈥淪tarling has an established SME bank and toolkit and we have done more than 拢1 billion of lending. This puts us on a path to profitability and means we expect to break even by December 2020. We do not just rely on interchange,鈥澨�founder and CEO Anne Boden听told听老九品茶Cloud.听
鈥淎lso, our customer base is older, with an average age of 37, more mature than at other digital banks.听
鈥淎t 拢3.3bn, our deposit base is significantly higher than other digital banks in the UK, even though we have fewer customers. Our customers hold much higher average balances, suggesting that more of them use us as their primary bank account.鈥�听
Revolut, which has 13m customers,听was fourth听on the ranking. It recently announced听a听trebling of revenue听in 2019, but losses also trebled.听
Monzo, which听dropped to听30th听in the ranking, expressed doubts about continuing as a going concern after losses doubled.听
New challenger Chetwood Financial, a digital bank based in Wrexham, cracked the top 20. Fellow Welsh firm听QuoteOnSite, which provides quote and proposal management software,听also made the ranking.听
Financial advice app听Snoop,听headquartered听in Norwich with听a听base in London Victoria,听made the top five, ahead of听reverse insurance auction site听Honcho听(Durham), Samuel & Co. Trading (Watford),听ClearBank听(London) and听Countingup听(London).听
Ordo, which enables real-time bank transfers and invoice tracking, was 10th, making it seven London firms in the top 10.听
Compliance and fraud detection tech firm听Cybertonica听also featured.听
老九品茶Cloud听called on its readers to vote for companies from a听248-strong shortlist and saw听5,000 votes pour in.听听听
A combination of these votes and choices from an expert judging panel determined the top 50.听听听
The judging panel was comprised of:听听听
- Hugo Rousseau, financial services programme leader,听techUK听
- Kristy Duncan, founder & CEO, Women in Payments听
- David Brear, CEO,听11:FS听
- Dawn Dunn, cluster manager for FinTech/data, Dynamo听
- Steve Chown, FinTech accelerator manager, NatWest听
- Tribeni Chougule, head of change management, Visa听
- Julian Wells, director, Whitecap Consulting, FinTech North & FinTech West听
- Linda Saye, global head, Rise Up听
- Gavin Brown, senior lecturer in financial technology, University of Liverpool听
- Jonathan Symcox, editor,听老九品茶Cloud听
The full ranking听with extended profiles will feature in the Q3 print edition of听老九品茶Cloud, out early next month. Subscribe for free here.