The digital bank Starling announced a plan in which it is going to hold 18% of the SME banking market in five years, Insider reported.
The current share of the small business market is around 4.4%. CEO Anne Boden believes the company will be able to capture even more business customer thanks to her experience and the technology Starling provides.
During the pandemic Starling has managed to give out £1.4bn in bounceback loans. About 66% of the recipients were based outside of London. For example, Scottish business customers of Starling received around £67m in such loans.
Starling Bank is valued at $1.5bn as it is set to raise £200m from US investor Fidelity that manages trillions of dollars in its assets.
Since its launch in 2014, Starling has managed to attract around 2.2m accounts held by customers and businesses.
Also, according to security researchers commissioned by “Which?” Starling Bank’s recently-launched online banking service is the most secure among the UK’s 13 leading banks.
“I think it’s going to be 18% of the small to medium businesses – the way it is going at the moment – we will be alongside some of the big banks in five years time,” told Boden to Insider.
“Starling is all about investment in the future and the pandemic has meant building features for SME businesses – we are serious about businesses and we continue to grow very very fast.”
