Earlier today saw the launch of web browser based online banking from the digital only Starling Bank ( www.starlingbank.com ).
This initial offering is currently only being made available to Starling’s business customers but we are assured it will be rolled out to joint account holders and personal accounts in the near future.
In a recent visit to Starling Bank’s offices I saw a copy of Brett King’s excellent book Bank4.0 in the reception area. Would Starling’s browser based banking eschew Brett’s idea of first principles and just replicate the offering we see from other banks?
Or would Starling be true to form and reinvigorate the concept of web browser based banking?
As an aside, if you have yet to read Bank4.0 by Brett King you need to add it to your reading list without delay. Find out more about Bank4.0 at https://northeypoint.com/reviews/
Having logged on this evening it appears that Starling have put the first principles concept outlined in Bank4.0 to good effect and created a web browser banking solution that is fresh, feature rich and, for the business account user, a useful tool for managing a company’s financial needs.
Starling introduce and explain their new development well – you’ll find an excellent introduction at: https://www.starlingbank.com/blog/introducing-business-online-banking/
Registering for web browser banking is a simple process using the registered mobile phone for authentication. I don’t have a laptop with me this evening so the process was even simpler as I was using a web browser on an iPad so the process used the Starling app on the same device to authenticate me.
Having successfully navigated registration I was presented with a clean, fresh and intuitive web browser user experience.
As you would expect all the features of the App are faithfully replicated on the web browser.
However there are a number of improvements that relate to business banking – these include:
– banking on a bigger screen is easier to navigate (especially if your current Starling experience has been limited to the size of your phone screen).
– the ability for multiple users to access and use the bank account.
– the ability to conduct your banking on the same device that you conduct the rest of your business on.
– richer spending analysis and categorisation.
On a less tangible note conducting business banking via a web browser based solution seemed much more appropriate and natural. Quite the reverse of how I feel about personal banking which has been transformed by the Starling app.
In summary, the newly launched web browser based online banking offering from Staring Bank is a significant enhancement for businesses like Northey Point Limited ( www.northeypoint.co.uk ) and will probably useful for joint account holders.
However, personally, app based banking will remain far more useful for my personal bank account requirements.
What’s next for Starling Bank? We are promised new features soon!