Goldman-backed fintech Starling withdraws European bank license application in blow to global ambitions

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LONDON — British digital bank Starling is ending its bid to obtain a European banking license, dealing a significant setback to the company's international expansion ambitions.

The firm told staff Monday that it had withdrawn its application for a bank license from the Irish central bank, four years after initiating the process. Starling's application had faced problems in the past, with the digital lender temporarily pausing talks with regulators in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Starling will instead focus on selling its software-as-a-service product, aimed at helping banks with their digital transformation strategies, and expanding into new areas of lending, CEO Anne Boden told staff in a memo Monday. The memo was first reported by Sky News and subsequently confirmed to CNBC by a Starling spokesperson.

The news comes as a blow to Starling's European expansion plans. Backed by the likes of Goldman Sachs and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, Starling has won investment from such high-profile investors with the promise that it can achieve success in countries outside its home market.

Starling is one of the U.K.'s largest online-only banks, with more than 3 million clients, 500,000 of which are businesses. It competes with numerous popular fintechs in the country including Revolut and Monzo, as well as its own investor Goldman, which offers savings accounts through a digital banking brand called Marcus.

The privately-owned firm was last valued at £2.5 billion ($3 billion) in April, double what it was worth in a 2021 financing round.

Fintechs have had a tough time in both public and private markets, with Swedish buy now, pay later firm Klarna recently seeing its valuation drop 85% to $6.7 billion from