Today, we feature a guest blog by university student Reuben Taylor sharing his experience on opening a bank account with Starling Bank.
Reuben shares his experience:
Generally, at some point in life (potentially multiple times) you will have to open or switch bank accounts. And with the current coronavirus pandemic placing restrictions on human interaction the move towards digital banking will surely be accelerated.
Finder (the comparison platform) state that the number of Brits in the next 5 years with a digital-only bank account will double up to nearly 25 million people. It can safely be said then that digital-only banking is taking the UK by storm with myself swept up in the excitement.
Last week, I opened my very first digital-only bank account with Starling Bank. The experience so far has been one of simplicity, satisfaction and style.
The ease of opening the account can be compared to that of putting pennies in a piggy bank. Easy yet rewarding.
After the couple of hours waiting for the identity check to be verified (I opened the account on a Sunday so a very impressive turnaround) I was immediately able to add my debit card to Apple Pay – despite not having the card itself! This again was a signal of how important Starling take payments to be.
The card arrived within 2-3 working days as promised. The packaging was minimal yet professional. My mother even mistook it for a wedding invitation!
Activating the card was instantaneous after putting the CVC into the app. Funnily, in the same week I received a wedding invitation over email which required a password to access – it seems a full turnaround has taken place.
I am yet to make a spend with the card or Apple Pay (something which says more about my frugal tendencies than Starlings functionality). I moved over to Starling to manage payments better, functionality, ease of setup (38 clicks – far fewer than High Street banks) and simply the aesthetic.
I will still be using my old High Street bank for student finance etc but for day to day and weekly management Starling will be my go-to.
With my birthday being this Sunday I am looking forward to utilising the cheque deposit function.
I look forward to what the future holds with Starling and where and how they’ll progress as a digital only bank.