Starling Bank
PRA-authorised UK challenger bank offering business term loans up to £250k alongside its business banking app. Lending is gated to existing Starling business banking customers, so it is not a route for borrowers who bank elsewhere. Where it fits, pricing is competitive against high-street term loans and the application sits inside the same app the borrower already uses. Decisions are slower than fintech-only lenders because full bank underwriting applies.
Quick routing verdict
- Product: Business term loan + overdraft.
- Ticket band: £25k to £250k.
- Decision time: 2 to 5 business days.
- Pricing: From 7% APR.
- FCA-authorised.
At a glance
- Legal entity
- Starling Bank Limited
- Companies House
- 09092149
- Founded
- 2014
- Product
- Business term loan + overdraft
- Ticket range
- £25k to £250k
- Decision time
- 2 to 5 business days
- Ltd-only
- Yes (FundBiz routes Ltd / LLP / partnerships of 4+ only regardless)
- Last reviewed
- 2026-05-08
Why we route here
- Real bank pricing rather than fintech mark-up; rates from 7% APR for strong applicants.
- Application lives inside the existing Starling business app.
- PRA and FCA authorised; FSCS-protected deposits alongside.
- Loan + overdraft + account in one place reduces admin.
When we route elsewhere
- Only available to existing Starling business banking customers.
- Hard credit search at full application.
- Slower than fintech lenders; 2 to 5 days versus same-day.
- Personal guarantee required for limited-company borrowers.
Best fit applicants
- Existing Starling business customers
- Ltd companies wanting bank pricing
- Borrowers wanting bank + loan in one app
Where Starling Bank is the wrong fit
- Borrowers banking elsewhere
- Same-day funding needs
- Tickets above £250k
If declined by Starling Bank
If your application to Starling Bank is declined, the FundBiz post-decline matcher routes by decline reason. Common alternatives in our panel are listed in the "When we route elsewhere" section above. See also our Starling Bank decline runbook for sector-specific routing detail.
Other panel lenders
- 365 Business Finance, Merchant cash advance
- Aldermore, Asset finance, invoice finance, commercial mortgages
- Allica Bank, SME term loan + commercial mortgage
- Bizcap, Specialist post-decline / fast cash
How we rate Starling Bank
This review is FundBiz's own editorial assessment, scored against a published framework. See our methodology for how we rate each lender.
Run the matcher
Tell us your turnover, sector and ticket size. We score against Starling Bank and the wider FundBiz panel, then surface the lenders most likely to approve. Limited companies, LLPs and partnerships of 4+ only.
Open matcher →Last reviewed: 2026-05-08. By Oliver Mackman.