Starling withdraws European bank license application

Starling’s application had faced problems in the past, with the digital lender temporarily pushing back talks with regulators in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The bank first initiated the process to become regulated in the EU in 2018 but motivated its latest decision as it wants to focus on selling its SaaS product and expanding into new areas of lending.

Starling is one of the largest online banks in the UK, counting for over 3 million clients, of which half a million businesses.