Is Starling Bank ethical?
Our research highlights several ethical issues with Starling Bank, including a lack of ethical investment policies, excessive executive pay and a lack of meaningful action to tackle climate change.
Below we outline some of these issues. To see the full detailed stories, and Starling Bank’s overall ethical rating, please sign in or subscribe.
People
Starling Bank has some policies on human rights. Its Ethics Statement says: “We don’t provide banking services to or invest in organisations that use excessive power to systemically promote public behaviour that is harmful to individuals, groups or to the whole of society in order to maximise their own profits. This may include, for example, arms manufacturers and tobacco companies."
However, the company did not appear to have a policy excluding financing of companies linked to significant workers’ rights abuses or linked to oppressive regimes.
Environment and climate
Starling Bank states: “We do not invest directly in fossil fuels."
However, when it comes to addressing its emissions overall, Starling Bank has much room for improvement. While the company has taken some steps to address its direct emissions, for example using renewable energy for its offices, it does not appear to discuss emissions from its financing activities – likely to be by far the biggest source. Likewise, the company reported on its direct emissions, but did not report on those from its financial activities.
Starling Bank has set a target of net zero by 2050, but it's unclear whether this covers emissions from its financial activities. Ethical Consumer therefore did not consider it to have a target in line with vital international climate goals.
Animals
Starling Bank does not appear to have an ethical lending policy on factory farming. Factory farming is linked to many animal rights issues such as overcrowding, mutilations and inhumane slaughter. The most ethical banks have a policy on factory farming.
Politics and finances
Starling Bank scores reasonably well in Ethical Consumer’s tax conduct rating. The company has a number of subsidiaries based in tax havens, including a holding company in Ireland. However, it had published a clear tax statement confirming that it was company policy not to engage in tax avoidance activity, and it also provided an explanation for each subsidiary located in a tax haven.
Starling Bank paid its highest remunerated director £2,326,000 in 2024, which Ethical Consumer considered to be excessive.
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The text above was written in March 2025, and most research was conducted in February 2025.