Starling Bank Offers Free Virtual Cards And Enhanced Expenditure Analysis

Going up against Monzo and Revolut, which both offer virtual cards. Neobank Starling is giving its customers free virtual cards, which will make it easier for them to keep track of and control how much they spend.

The cards will be linked to a customer’s “Saving Space” in the Starling app, which is essentially a separate pot of money. The unique card number, expiration date, and CVV can then be used to sign up for something like “Subscriptions,” which helps to keep track of that spending.

“Our customers asked for virtual cards and we’ve delivered,” said Helen Bierton, the chief banking officer at Starling. Last week, she was named Woman of the Year 2022 at the AltFi Awards.

“Virtual cards allow people to completely compartmentalise their personal finances for better control of their spending, making it easier to stick to budgets.”

Starling’s virtual cards come in five different colors and can also be used on the high street by adding them to mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

The cards put Starling on par with Monzo and Revolut, which have been offering permanent and temporary cards for a few years to help people keep track of how much they spend online (albeit as a paid feature in the case of Monzo).

Along with the new cards, Starling is expanding its spending insights by adding analytics for Savings Spaces. Previously, insights were only available for a user’s main account.

“We’re constantly thinking of how we can help our customers manage their money better. We’ve been busy building these new features, as well as our new Budget Planner, to help us continue this mission,” added Bierton.