Starling Bank Review: A Free Current Account, No Fees Abroad and a 4.00% Easy Saver

Starling is the app bank that feels most like a bank. It was founded by Anne Boden, and Starling describes itself as the only bank in British history founded by a woman. It took its banking licence in 2016 and now says it runs more than four million accounts. There are no paid tiers and no lifestyle bundles. Instead you get a free current account, a phone line that answers around the clock and no Starling fees on spending or cash abroad. This review covers what you earn on savings, what a trip to Lisbon and Malta costs, how safe your money is and who should open one. For the full field, see our banking apps hub.

This review is information, not financial advice.

Starling Promo Code box

• Offer: free current account; Easy Saver at 4.00% AER (variable) for six months on up to £25,000 ($33,315 / €29,668)
• Promo Code: No Promo Code needed
• Who qualifies: UK residents with a Starling personal or joint current account; savings accounts are 18+
• Key terms: the Easy Saver rate includes a 1.50% AER fixed bonus for six months, after which it falls to the standard 2.50% AER (variable); referral rewards are by Starling invitation only

Offer detail	What you get
Promo Code	No Promo Code needed
Welcome offer	Free current account; Easy Saver at 4.00% AER (variable) for the first six months on balances up to £25,000; invited referees can earn £25 ($33.31 / €29.67)
Who qualifies	UK residents opening a Starling current account; savings and referral rewards are for over-18s
Key terms	Easy Saver bonus lasts six months, then 2.50% AER (variable); referral reward needs a valid code and the steps shown in the referral message
How to claim	Download the Starling app, open a current account, then open an Easy Saver from the app

Get the Starling offer

Key facts

• Owner: Starling Bank Limited, London
• Founded: 2014; UK banking licence in 2016
• Regulation: authorised by the PRA, regulated by the FCA and PRA, register number 730166
• Deposit protection: FSCS, up to £120,000 ($159,912 / €142,404)
• Monthly fee: £0, no paid tiers
• Card spending and cash abroad: no Starling fees, Mastercard exchange rate, cash up to £300 a day
• Savings: Easy Saver 4.00% AER for six months; Fixed Saver 4.20% AER for 12 months; Cash ISA 2.50% AER (all as checked on Starling’s savings page)
• App ratings: 4.9 on the UK App Store (629k ratings), 4.8 on Google Play (about 138k reviews)
• Trustpilot: 4.1 from 46,039 reviews

Verdict

Starling is the steadiest choice in this batch. It has no paid plans to upsell, the fees abroad are zero from the bank’s side, and the phone line works at 3am, which matters more than any feature list when a card is stolen on holiday. Its savings rates are competitive for the first six months, then ordinary. It does not have Monzo’s flair or Chase’s cashback, but as a main account it is hard to fault.

Pros

• No monthly fee and no paid tiers to decode
• No Starling fees on card spending or cash withdrawals abroad
• 24/7 support by phone and in-app chat
• Free Post Office cash deposits up to £1,000
• Student, teen and sole trader accounts alongside the personal account

Cons

• £300 daily limit on cash withdrawals abroad
• Easy Saver bonus lasts only six months
• No interest on the current account itself
• Referral scheme is by invitation, so you cannot count on it
• Fined £29m by the FCA in 2024 over financial crime controls

Starling switching and referral offers

Starling’s homepage advertises no cash switching incentive. It points customers to the Current Account Switch Service, which moves your balance, salary and Direct Debits within seven working days.

There is a refer-a-friend programme, effective from 24 August 2026, but only customers Starling has invited can use it. The standard reward is £25 for both the referrer and the new customer, or another amount set out in the referral message. To earn it, the referee must be 18 or over, never have held a Starling account, enter a valid code and complete the steps listed in the message, which may include setting up Direct Debits or making payments. Gambling payments, foreign currency purchases and transfers do not count. The reward lands in a Space within 30 days of the conditions being met.

Starling prices and fees

There is nothing to compare between tiers because there is only one. The personal current account costs £0 to maintain, according to Starling’s fee information document. The charges that do exist are mostly edge cases:

Service	Fee
Account maintenance	£0
Card payments in a foreign currency	£0
Cash withdrawals outside the UK	£0 from Starling
Post Office cash deposits	Free up to £1,000 ($1,332.60 / €1,186.70), then 0.7% of the amount above
Sending money abroad	£0.30 to £5.50 ($0.40 to $7.33 / €0.36 to €6.53), plus a 0.4% transfer fee
Replacement debit card	£5 ($6.66 / €5.93) to a UK address, £10 ($13.33 / €11.87) overseas
Arranged overdraft	15%, 25% or 35% EAR (variable), representative 15% EAR

Starling savings rates

All of Starling’s savings sit alongside a personal or joint current account, and all are for UK residents aged 18 or over. The figures below were checked on Starling’s savings page and are variable unless stated otherwise.

• Easy Saver: 4.00% AER (3.92% gross) on balances up to £25,000, including a 1.50% AER fixed bonus for the first six months. Above £25,000, and on the whole balance after six months, the rate is 2.50% AER (2.46% gross). Unlimited access, interest paid monthly.
• Fixed Saver: 4.20% AER for 12 months, no access during the term, from £2,000 ($2,665.20 / €2,373.40) up to £1m.
• Flexible Cash ISA: 2.50% AER tax-free (variable), with unlimited access and the usual £20,000 annual allowance.

The worked saving: £5,000 in the Easy Saver

Put £5,000 into the Easy Saver. For the first six months at 4.00% AER it earns roughly £100. For the next six months at 2.50% AER it earns roughly £62.50. That is about £162.50 ($216.55 / €192.84) over the year, against about £210 ($279.85 / €249.21) in the Fixed Saver if you can lock the money away for 12 months. The Easy Saver is the right home for an emergency fund; the Fixed Saver suits money you will not touch.

Fees abroad: €500 in Lisbon, cash in Malta

Starling charges nothing on card payments in a foreign currency and nothing on cash withdrawals abroad. It uses the Mastercard exchange rate, which you can check in the app, and sends notifications in both currencies.

Take a freelance photographer who spends €500 on a week of food and transport in Lisbon, about £421.34 at our reference rate, then lands in Malta and takes €200 (about £168.53) from a cash machine in Sliema. Starling’s fees on the whole trip: £0. The daily cash limit is £300 ($399.78 / €356.01) in the local currency equivalent, which is plenty for most days but tight if you need to pay a villa deposit in cash. Cash machines may add their own fee, and paying in pounds at a card terminal lets the merchant set the rate, so pay in euros.

Starling also sells travel eSIM data covering 130 countries in the app, which is useful if you would rather not pay roaming charges. For other options, see our travel eSIM guide.

Starling vs Wise vs Revolut abroad

	Starling	Wise	Revolut Standard
Monthly fee	£0	£0 (card costs £7 to order)	£0
Card spending in euros	No Starling fee, Mastercard rate	Mid-market rate plus a conversion fee shown before you pay	Free up to £1,000 exchange a month, then 1%
Cash abroad	No Starling fee, £300 a day	£250 a month free, then 2.69%	5 withdrawals or £200 a month free, then 2% (minimum £1)
FSCS cover	Yes	No: e-money, safeguarded	See our Revolut review

For a single euro trip, Starling and Revolut both cost nothing from the provider’s side. Wise is the better tool if you want to hold several currencies at once. Starling’s advantage is that it is a full UK bank with 24/7 phone support.

Is Starling safe? FSCS and FCA authorisation

Starling Bank Limited is registered in England and Wales (company number 09092149) at 5th Floor, London Fruit and Wool Exchange, 1 Duval Square, London E1 6PW. It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA under register number 730166. Eligible deposits are protected by the FSCS up to £120,000.

In October 2024, the FCA fined Starling £29m over weaknesses in its anti-money laundering controls and sanctions screening. That history goes some way to explaining the account restrictions some reviewers describe.

App ratings, support and what users say

Starling’s app scores 4.9 on the UK App Store from 629,000 ratings and 4.8 on Google Play from about 138,000 reviews.

Support is available 24/7 by in-app chat or on 020 7930 4450. You can also email help@starlingbank.com, without account details. Relay UK and British Sign Language video support are offered.

On Trustpilot, Starling scores 4.1 out of 5 from 46,039 reviews. Reviewers like the simple app, Spaces for saving and instant notifications, and several praise quick, human support. The complaints centre on complex or urgent problems: slow dispute handling, payments that could not be stopped in time, accounts frozen or closed with little explanation, and declined applications without reasons.

Who Starling suits

• Students: Starling offers a student account for over-18s in full-time degree study, plus a teen account for 16 and 17 year olds.
• Travellers: no fees on spending or cash abroad from Starling, an in-app eSIM and 24/7 phone help make it one of the best travel debit cards in the UK.
• Freelancers: Starling offers sole trader and business accounts, so a graphic designer in Bristol can keep client payments apart from personal spending.

How to open a Starling account, step by step

1. Make sure you are a UK resident with a smartphone and valid photo ID, such as a passport or driving licence.
2. Apply through Starling’s site or download the Starling app.
3. Enter your details and record a short video of yourself to match your ID.
4. Starling runs checks with a UK credit reference agency; you may be asked for proof of address.
5. Once the account is open, order your debit card and add it to Apple Pay or Google Pay while you wait. The card usually arrives in five to seven days.
6. If you have a referral code, enter it and complete the listed steps.
7. Open an Easy Saver, Fixed Saver or Cash ISA in the app, and switch your old account if you want Starling as your main bank.

Starling vs Monzo vs Chase vs Kroo

	Starling	Monzo	Chase UK	Kroo
Monthly fee	Free	Free; paid plans £3 to £23	Free	Free
Fee on card spending abroad	None	None	None	None
Cash abroad	No fee, £300 a day	EEA free; £200 to £600 elsewhere	No fee, £500 a day, £1,500 a month	No Kroo fee
Headline savings	Easy Saver 4.00% AER for 6 months	Instant Access 2.75% AER (free plan)	Saver 4.5% AER for 12 months	Current account 3.00% AER
Phone support	24/7	Yes, urgent 24/7	24/7	Yes
FSCS	Up to £120,000	Up to £120,000	Up to £120,000	Up to £120,000

Starling FAQs

Is there a Starling promo code or sign-up bonus?
No Promo Code is needed. Starling has no public sign-up bonus. Invited customers can share a referral code worth £25 to both sides once the listed steps are complete.

Does Starling charge fees abroad?
No. Starling charges nothing on card spending or cash withdrawals abroad and uses the Mastercard rate. Cash machines may add their own fees.

What is Starling’s cash withdrawal limit abroad?
£300 a day in the local currency equivalent.

What interest does Starling pay?
The Easy Saver pays 4.00% AER (variable) on up to £25,000 for six months, then 2.50% AER. The 12-month Fixed Saver pays 4.20% AER and the Cash ISA 2.50% AER. The current account itself pays no interest.

Is Starling Bank safe?
Starling is a UK bank authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and PRA (register number 730166). Eligible deposits are covered by the FSCS up to £120,000.

Can I pay cash into Starling?
Yes, at the Post Office. Deposits are free up to £1,000, then 0.7% of the amount above that.

Can non-UK residents open a Starling account?
No. Starling’s personal accounts are for UK residents.

Starling or Monzo?
Both are free and fee-free abroad. Starling has no paid tiers and 24/7 phone support; Monzo has more budgeting features and optional bundles such as Perks.

Visit Starling

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