# Starling Bank: how AI models rank it, October 2026

Finance AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Named in 4 judge labels across 2 categories by 3 of 14 models. Page: https://finance-ai-index.com/vendors/starling-bank/

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business banking | 0% | 27 | 0% | 3 |
| AML and transaction monitoring | 0% | 96 | 100% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "For a UK limited company on a tight budget: Starling Bank — it's completely free, fully licensed, and packed with tools." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, Business banking)
- "Tide or Starling Bank: Free basic accounts, no min balance, free UK transfers" (Grok 4.1 Fast, Business banking)

## And against it

- "Starling Bank (£28.9M fine, 2024) had screening software but was only screening against a fraction of the full sanctions list" (Kimi K2, AML monitoring)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 10 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise.

- Business banking: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 11 → 27 of 86.
- AML and transaction monitoring: 0% to 0%, ±0. New · not ranked in September 2026 · rank 96 of 108.

## In its own words

What Starling Bank's own pages state, read 2026-10-06. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: Award-winning bank accounts (https://starlingbank.com/)
- For: Personal and business banking online and at your fingertips, always. (https://starlingbank.com/)
- Price stated: No monthly fees. (https://starlingbank.com/)
- Free plan or trial: No monthly fees. (https://starlingbank.com/)
- Certifications: FSCS protection, HMRC-recognised Making Tax Digital (MTD) software

## What it publishes

Every page starlingbank.com exposes, read 2026-09-29: 816 addresses. By kind, pages and the last 90 days:

- blog: 319 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- case study: 1 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- conference or event: 1 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- report or ebook: 2 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- comparison: 4 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- template or tool: 9 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- glossary or explainer: 14 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- news or press: 201 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated

## Record

- Method: https://finance-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://finance-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Finance AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, finance-ai-index.com.