Starling Bank
“Can a UK neobank that built its own core banking infrastructure capture revenue both from retail/SMB customers and from licensing that same technology to other banks via Engine by Starling?”
Founded in 2014 as a mobile-first consumer bank, Starling quickly built proprietary cloud-native banking infrastructure and used it to expand into SME banking — a segment underserved by traditional banks. From 2017 onwards, Starling began monetising its technology by offering payment sponsorship and Banking-as-a-Service to other fintechs and regulated entities via Starling Banking Services (SBS). The most significant strategic pivot came with the launch of Engine by Starling, transforming Starling from a pure neobank into a fintech infrastructure business that sells its core banking software to other financial institutions globally.