The news comes as Starling announced it had more than doubled its revenue to £453m for the year to 31 March 2023

Anne Boden, founder of London, UK-headquartered Starling Bank, is to step aside as chief executive officer on 30 June. 

Boden will remain on the board as a non-executive director and John Mountain, Starling’s chief operating officer, will take over as interim chief executive officer, until a permanent replacement is found.  

The news comes as Starling announced it had more than doubled its revenue to £453m for the year to 31 March 2023 and record pre-tax profits of £195m, a six-fold increase on the previous year’s £32m.  

Boden founded Starling, which now serves 3.6m customers, in 2014 to the challenge the established banks. 

The app-based bank offers personal and business accounts, software-as-a-service and a marketplace for insurance, accountancy and pensions.  

On the bank’s success, Boden said: “When I started Starling in 2014, I was told no one ever starts a bank, nobody wins market share and you’ll never make a profit. Today’s results prove them wrong.  

“We’ve succeeded in disrupting an entire industry. I’m immensely proud of these results, which are a testament to how far we have come as a team and how fast we’ve moved as a business.”  

On her departure, Boden added: “I have spent nearly a decade here as both the founder and chief executive officer, a dual role which is unique in UK banking.  

“Now that we have grown from being an aspiring challenger to an established bank, it is clear the roles and priorities of a chief executive officer and a large shareholder ultimately differ and require distinct approaches.  

“As Starling continues to evolve and grow, separating my two roles is in the bank’s best interests.”  

Mountain, who has worked at Starling for seven years, first as chief information officer before taking on the role of chief operating officer for the last year, said: “What makes Starling stand out is that we’ve succeeded in making it both customer-led and technology-led throughout.  

“We’ve firmly established a sustainable business model and I look forward to continuing our work of changing banking for good.” 

Image: Starling Bank  

Josh Poyser
Josh Poyser is an editor at FinTech Intel. He has written about fintech for several years and appeared at FinTech Connect 2023 on the 'Unlocking Success: The Art of Fintech PR' panel.