Starling Bank FY2026 Results: Profit Declines Slightly as Customer Activity and SaaS Growth Accelerate

Starling Bank remained profitable for the fifth consecutive year in the financial year ending 31 March 2026 (FY26), though profits and revenue slipped slightly as interest rates declined. At the same time, the UK digital bank continued to grow its customer base, deepen engagement, and expand its banking‑technology platform globally.

Financial performance in FY2026

Starling reported pre‑tax profit of £217.1 million, down from £223.4 million in FY2025, representing a modest decline of around 3%. Revenue also fell to £887 million, compared with £940 million the previous year.

The main reason for the drop in earnings was a reduction in interest income as interest rates declined during the year. Interest income fell from £882 million to about £759 million, reflecting a lower Bank of England base rate environment.

Despite the decline in revenue and profit, the bank still delivered its fifth straight year of profitability, a milestone that reinforces its position as one of the UK’s most financially sustainable digital challenger banks.

Customer growth and engagement

Starling continued expanding its user base and deepening engagement with existing customers.

• Platform accounts: 6.2 million in FY26, up from 5.3 million in FY25.
• Customer deposits: £12.7 billion, up from £12.1 billion a year earlier.

These increases suggest that more customers are using Starling as a primary banking platform and storing larger balances with the bank.

Transaction volumes and average deposits

Customer activity also increased significantly during the year.

• Total transaction value: £217 billion in FY26, up from £197 billion in FY25.
• Average deposit balance: £4,241, up from £3,931.
• Primary relationships: 34.5% of customers, slightly down from 34.9% the previous year.

Higher transaction volume and deposit balances indicate deeper day‑to‑day use of the platform, even though the proportion of customers using Starling as their main account remained broadly stable.

Engine by Starling: SaaS expansion

Starling’s technology division, Engine by Starling, continued scaling its banking‑as‑a‑service platform internationally.

In FY26:

• Engine revenue grew by about 25%.
• The client base doubled, reflecting growing demand from banks seeking cloud‑native core banking systems.

A major milestone for the platform was a 10‑year agreement with Tangerine, the Canadian digital bank owned by Scotiabank. The deal will see Tangerine migrate its digital banking infrastructure onto Engine’s cloud‑based platform.

This partnership represents one of Engine’s largest deployments and illustrates Starling’s strategy to export its banking technology globally rather than relying solely on retail banking revenue.

The broader strategic picture

Starling’s FY2026 results show a bank balancing two trends:

• Short‑term pressure on profitability from falling interest rates, which reduced interest income.
• Strong underlying growth in customer numbers, deposits, transaction activity, and SaaS platform adoption.

While earnings dipped slightly, the bank’s expanding user base and the rapid growth of Engine suggest Starling is increasingly positioning itself as both a digital bank and a global banking‑technology provider.