Aye, emigrating does seem like an extreme solution to a lack of interesting banking app updates.
Starling tends to play it quite safe and it isn’t going to mess around too much for fear of upsetting people who just want their banking app to work.
I’m happy for them to do that, just so long they don’t start doing a Monzo and start paywalling basic features.
A cash ISA or a credit card might be a nice addition to their product list though.
I perhaps wrongly concluded here that @coup refers to signing up with Chase.
Sticking with Starling though, is there anything specific that Sterling lacks functionally other than a lively app development plan?
Developers not using the changelog release notes for what they’re actually meant for really grinds my gears.
Either say what’s in the update, or if there’s nothing in it, stop trying to game the App Store with weekly releases of nothingness.
I’m all for stability, but a UI refresh is long overdue. The Home screen could be more useful, it’s outdated and hasn’t been updated since release I believe.
@anon62610374 You and me both, at this point I’d settle with just ‘Performance and bug fixes’ over unrelated tips on ‘downloading bank statements’.
One or two of us go back to the early days in Starling’s UI development. Many a column inch was writ in their and other forums about the Home Screen.
Even the most partisan of us had much better ideas than the wheel but it’s never shifted. I think it’s probably regarded internally as some sort of branding item.
It’s not in Starling’s style to do anything drastic and an app refresh probably falls into that category 
(@gavinator above, put it better)
Probably at least partly why I’ve never gotten on with them. They’re no fintech. Their approach is entirely legacy with a fresh (dated now) coat of paint. Pig on a lipstick Lipstick on a pig I think is the saying.
Their UX was never very good even by the standards at the time it launched either, so it’s truly abysmal now. Even Atom eventually went back to the drawing board with there’s (not that it was much better and far less visually appealing). I think it’s one of those elements where it’s just meant to look cool, different, and futuristic to attract investors who also don’t understand good UI paradigms (there’s a very good reason a lot of apps tend to look quite similar, but they won’t stand out to an investor) either.
Maybe now Anne’s gone, they’ll fix it. But they’ve got a bunch of other, perhaps more concerning, problems they need to get past first. Part of me suspects the stagnation, along with the temporary account opening restrictions that have been in place for several months now indicates they’re struggling. Either going under, in need of an investment uplift for capital, or in the process of being acquired. Or they’re in trouble with the regulator. Either way, the impression I’m left with, which I can only speculate as to why, is a pretty dire one.
Not quite sure where you got that idea. They seem to be doing fine. https://www.starlingbank.com/docs/annual-reports/Pillar3-2023.pdf
They seem to be growing quite steadily, so it doesn’t make much sense to rock the boat, or incur unnecessary expense.
They’ve stopped accepting applications for additional accounts, and former customers can no longer rejoin at all (even after the time has elapsed). They previously cited improvements they’re making to the onboarding flow as the reason, but now don’t provide a reason. It’s been several months now since this started. Banks don’t restrict sign ups solely for the reason they cite. There’s more to it they’re not sharing. Perhaps it’ll be in the next annual report.
My reasons for why that might be the case are in part educated speculation, and in part based on the only other time that I’m aware of another bank has ever put those same restrictions in place, which would suggest they’re not fine right now.
Other way round 
Thank you!
Could also very well be that they were incurring expense due to people using them for CASS bribes and they realised the LTCV on people who come back isn’t high at all
Obviously if the big banks barred people from coming back without a good reason there’d be legislation in minutes because where else do you go
Starling though? No chance. No one is coming for that
Sure, but preventing existing customers from opening additional euro, dollar, multicurrency, business, or joint accounts?
Don’t think that reasoning would extend to those being unavailable to existing customers too.
Not to mention the anecdotal reports online of brand new customers receiving the same response when they try to apply for an account.
Have to disagree with this. Have you seen their tech stack and their approach to development? The opposite of legacy.
I can only speak to how it feels from a consumer facing perspective. And their approach to development certainly feels incredibly legacy to me. From my very first experience with their onboarding flow at launch, to my second attempt using, and how little they’d improved in the years between.
The only thing that feels modern about it is the way that the Home Screen looks, and that’s in detriment to the UX. the experience though? Miles behind both Monzo and Chase when it comes to feeling like a modern bank, let alone the non-bank fintechs, and more on the level of Metro or Nationwide.
When they’ve tried to do the fintech sort of features, the result has always felt to me like something Barclays would build in response to a Monzo feature. The execution just always feels legacy bank to me.
I may be wrong, but I don’t recall Starling ever having permitted customers to open a second similar account. 
You can open another GBP or EUR account, but there are restricted at the moment.
No reason given though.
Opened a Euro account for our business with Starling a few months back without any issues. But this is also restricted at the moment
By additional, I just mean in addition to the standard current account you get when you sign up.
So euro accounts, dollar accounts, business accounts, joint accounts. And if you already have a business account, you can’t open additional GBP or multi currency accounts for it, as @Mathew highlights.
These restrictions have been in place for the last 3 or 4 months or so. Previously there was an explanation in that it was to make improvements. That explanation has been withdrawn and isn’t something they’re communicating anymore.
There are warnings on Starling’s website about it in relation to additional GBP and other currency accounts, but not joint accounts or new signups. Those are anecdotal reports of customers on Twitter, Reddit, discord, and the Monzo community, in addition to my own sibling not being allowed one of those accounts with customer support citing the same restriction that’s publicly in place for those account types.
Have they ever offered a dollar account?
Ah - business but not personal. I have the personal Euro account and got quite excited when you said US dollar accounts!
