As banks close their high street doors, opportunities for digital banking are opening up and providing fast, free and convenient service. Almost 800 bank branches closed last year, according to Reuters.
For customers this can be frustrating, especially if they need to visit a branch to access a certain service and have to travel miles to get there. The closures also mean longer queues at open branches leading to further delays.
A new wave of digital banks are seeking to address the pain points of traditional banking by enabling customers to do all their everyday banking without ever needing to visit a branch. Starling Bank, a UK mobile-only bank, offers personal, joint and business current accounts, all covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Whether it’s personal or business banking, everything can be done from the Starling banking app.
Starling customers can manage all their payments, including setting up payees and organising standing orders all from the app. Further features to ease money management include real-time notifications for money coming in and going out, a breakdown of spending into categories such as groceries or travel, and the ability to lock the Mastercard debit card from the app if lost or stolen.
Starling is one of a generation of customer-centric Fintech - or financial technology - companies, covering everything from banking to mortgages and insurance to investments, that are disrupting the financial services industry. By giving people more control and better insights, they aim to remove some of the stress and anxiety often associated with money.
When it comes to digital banking, customer behaviour is already changing. Between 2012 and 2017, UK Finance reported a 26% drop in bank branch visits while use of banking apps has increased 356%. The increased popularity of banking apps can partly be accounted for by their improved capability. Initially apps simply allowed customers to check their balance and see their most recent transactions but the functionality has improved over time, as seen with the launch of the Starling banking app in May 2017. Across the UK, just over half of all banking app users use the app to pay bills, two thirds to transfer money to friends and over a quarter to set up standing orders.
Starling is providing the digital tools to make money management quick and straightforward. Mobile-only personal and business current accounts can be applied for in five minutes. Visit www.starlingbank.com.
