Starling bank blocking its OWN customers from opening savings accounts

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When retired restaurateur Adrian Cox was invited with his wife Christine to a family wedding in Italy next year, he decided to open a savings account to set aside funds to pay for the trip.

So far, so simple. Except the 83-year-old was baffled and outraged in equal measure when the bank he has used for the past five years, Starling, blocked him.

‘I already have a current account with Starling,’ says Adrian, ‘so I can’t imagine what the problem is. 

'To be honest I felt absolutely astonished. I’ve put a lot of money through their bank and it’s distressing because they’ve never actually given me a reason.’

Money Mail has discovered Adrian and Christine, 76, who live in the cathedral city of St Davids in Pembrokeshire, are far from alone. Comments on social media from

Starling current account customers show they too have been rejected after trying to open a savings account.

Turned down: Starling Bank rejected retired restaurateur Adrian Cox's application for a simple savings account with no explanation

The digital bank would not comment about Adrian or others it has rejected, except for saying there is an ‘eligibility criteria’ customers must meet. 

Starling users have been trying to move funds into its savings account since February 10, when the bank scrapped the 3.25 per cent current account interest rate on up to £5,000. The bank is now paying no interest on these current accounts.

Disgruntled customers hoped to move money to Starling’s instant-access Easy Saver Savings Account, paying 4 per cent – a deal only available to Starling current account holders. 

Yet users such as Adrian are being greeted with an automated email saying they are unable to open an Easy Access Saver.

Experts are perplexed as to why this is happening. Anna Bowes, a leading savings expert from financial advisers The Private Office, says: ‘If you have passed the criteria to open a current account, surely that should be enough for your savings too?’

One explanation could be excessive caution by Starling after it received a rap on the knuckles by industry regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last October. 

The FCA fined it £29million for failing to screen prospective users and opening accounts for ‘high-risk customers’. Therese Chambers, of the FCA, said at the time: ‘Starling’s financial sanction screening controls were shockingly lax.’

This ‘shockingly lax’ approach to screening might help explain Starling’s growth from 43,000 customers in 2017 to 3.6million in 2023, according to the latest figures.

Mr Cox remains baffled by the bank’s action. He says: ‘Starling can see the occasional £20 go out to the bookies from my bank account, so I am worrying that it is disapproving of my flutter on the horses and is treating me like a naughty boy.

‘It’s the only explanation I can think of for this rude rejection.’

Last week there were dozens more claims on social media from customers saying they had been rejected from savings accounts.

On X, a customer wrote: ‘Do I need a special invitation to open a savings account with you? I don’t seem to have the option right now.’ 

Starling replied to the post with: ‘Our Easy Saver accounts are subject to eligibility criteria. This means that only customers who match our criteria will be able to apply for and open an Easy Saver.’

Popular: Starling’s growth has rocketed from 43,000 customers in 2017 to 3.6million in 2023, according to the latest figures

An account called ‘Rod Pascoe’ said: ‘You take away interest on your accounts and move interest to your savings pockets, then when you apply for one you suddenly can’t open new pockets due to “constraints” on a number of accounts opened. You said it wasn’t based on personal reasons. How convenient.’

Savings experts believe those who are unhappy with Starling should consider moving their money.

Sarah Coles, of Hargreaves Lansdown, says: ‘Starling generally has a good customer rating but, as with all banks, if you find you are suddenly not getting a decent enough rate of return, do not be afraid to go elsewhere.’

The Bank of England in February cut its base rate – to which savings account offers are linked – by 0.25 percentage points to 4.5 per cent. 

With the average savings account paying below 3 per cent, Starling’s 4 per cent is one of the most competitive in the market. Yet Money Mail’s Sylvia Morris ranks Charter Savings Bank offering 4.57 per cent as a better deal.

Starling Bank said: ‘Although we have approved tens of thousands of Easy Saver applications since soft launching in November, we have had to decline some too in line with certain eligibility criteria. We are sorry about any inconvenience this causes, and we are working hard to open as many accounts as we can.

‘We are currently subject to certain constraints around opening new accounts... The decision to decline an Easy Saver application may well be a result of the constraints, not an individual’s circumstances.’

As for Adrian, his wife Christine opened an account with Monzo ‘in less than two minutes with no fuss’, so their holiday plans are on track