Starling CEO Anne Boden.
Harry Murphy | Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images
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The firm told staff Monday that it had withdrawn its application for a bank license from the Irish central bank, four years after initiating the process.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