Online-only Starling Bank expects to more than quadruple its pre-tax profits in its annual results for the financial year ending March 2023.
Anne Boden, founder and CEO at Starling Bank, has revealed the bank’s revenue, plans and more in an annual blog. Boden highlights the more than 3.4 million customer accounts attributed to Starling, including 520,000 small business accounts.
Anne Boden, founder and CEO of Starling Bank
Starling now also has a significant 8.9 per cent share of the UK market for SME banking. Boden explained that the bank has brought “genuine competition and innovation to a market segment much in need of it”.
The neobank also generated annualised pre-tax profits of more than £250million on the back of almost £600million of annualised revenue for the month of December 2022. As of the end of December 2022, total deposits stood at £10.7 billion.
The news comes after Starling reported its first full year of profitability in March 2022. The digital bank had made a lost between March 2020 and March 2021 of £31.5million.
Boden also explained that 2022 saw Starling Bank increase its number of employees by around a third. The bank now employs around 2300 people and ended the year by announcing the creation of 1,000 new jobs based in Manchester. The founder and CEO explained that a Manchester-based office will open soon.
The news represents how one of the UK’s fast-growing financial institutions continues to flourish despite challenges brought about in 2022 by the likes of a cost-of-living crisis, rising interest rates and more.
Regulating crypto and disrupting the financial industry
2022 has seen significant controversy regarding crypto, particularly the news surrounding the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Boden discussed her own views on crypto and cryto exchanges today. She explained that she eventually expects cryptocurrencies to “be safe and highly regulated on an international basis.”
However, Anne Boden also acknowledged that currently, this is not the case. Because of this, she included a call to regulators in her annual statement. Calling for much improved regulation for crypto exchanges, she suggests that much improved rules must be put in place for the safety of consumers. “If they are not regulated, then they cannot continue to trade,” she explained.
The disparity between the level of regulation of other financial institutions compared to crypto exchanges was also noted. As a result, she asks for crypto regulation to hold itself to the same standards.
Finally, Boden concluded by explaining that Starling is “delighted” to see banks worldwide copy their most popular feature. She explains that this is indicative proof that “imagination, hope, determination and ambition (plus a little luck)” can cause significant change, even in a financial industry that is as traditional as it is.
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