Starling Bank appoints new CEO

Raman Bhatia will take over from interim CEO John Mountain

Starling Bank, a UK-based digital bank, has appointed Raman Bhatia as its new group chief executive officer. Bhatia will take over from John Mountain, who has been acting as interim chief executive officer since founder Anne Boden stepped down from the role last year.  

Bhatia joins from OVO, a tech-enabled energy retailer in the UK. Before OVO, he was the head of digital bank for HSBC’s retail banking and wealth management business in the UK and Europe.  

Founded in 2014, Starling offers personal, business, joint, euro and dollar current accounts alongside a children’s card. Starling also offers its proprietary technology platform that powers its own bank, as a software-as-a-service (SaaS), through its subsidiary Engine.  

Commenting on his new role, Bhatia said: “I am truly honoured to be appointed as the next group chief executive officer of Starling Bank.” 

He continued: “Starling is a company I have long admired because it believes passionately, like I do, in using the power of technology to do the right thing for its customers and its people. I can’t wait to get started and to see what we can achieve together.” 

Speaking on the appointment, Anne Boden, said: “I am pleased that in Raman we have found someone who can take Starling into its next phase of growth while cherishing the culture and values we have worked so hard to instil in everything we do.” 

David Sproul, chair of Starling Bank, added: “We see significant opportunities for Starling under Raman’s leadership as the economy stabilises, as our truly differentiated offering for personal and small business customers wins market share in the UK. And as our Engine by Starling SaaS business secures further international contracts.  

“I want to thank John Mountain for his wise stewardship of Starling these past eight months and am delighted that we will continue to benefit from his expertise at the company.” 

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.