I've been using starling bank recently, and this is a review of my experience. I'll be going into what I like, what I don't like, and some cool things, as well as information I've found out.

What I like

The interface

The interface is extremely modern feeling, and it's very fast, compared to traditional banks like Lloyds or HSBC, it feels much better. It's also more intuitive, it makes it much easier to find what I need.

The speed

When I make a deposit, or make a payment, it's instant, when I transfer money from HSBC to Starling the notification comes through faster than the success page for HSBC.

Free card

When you sign up, unlike most other digital only banks, you get a free physical card, which is definitely a nice feature. You do have the option to go for a digital only card, if you'd rather not have a physical card.

Savings Spaces

These are similar to Monzo saving pots, they're separate accounts where you can put money in, and gain interest, round up spare change, and more. One of the other useful features with spaces is that you can create a digital card to spend from that space, so if you make a space for household bills for example, you can pay your bills using that digital card, and it takes the money right out of the pot.

What I didn't like

The verification process

Firstly, to sign up for an account, you have to take a picture of some government ID, that's normal and expected, but then you have to record a video of yourself saying a code, which I wasn't a massive fan of, but Monzo does a similar thing, so it's mostly fine. But even after all of that, you have to wait a few hours for a real human to review your video. This doesn't really seem ideal, but it could be worse.

Overall

Overall, I'm actually a massive fan of starling bank, I've moved all of my money over, and I've been using it as my main account recently, and I'm more than happy with it. I've not gone into all the features, but the ones I have tried have been an amazing experience. I think that if you don't need a physical branch for the bank, then starling is one of the best options.