Bernadette Smith has a spring in her step as she sits down at Starling’s headquarters to discuss her new role. The fintech’s new banking chief says she wants to bring that energy to customers and investors alike.

“I want everyone to be talking about us,” she says, describing how she will judge success in her new position.

Smith has been at the fintech for more than four years, and in June she was handed responsibility for leading the group’s central operation. She now oversees Starling’s banking activities at a time when attention around the group is already high, though not for the right reasons.

The company reported a 3 per cent fall in pre-tax profit to £217m last year, trailing the strong earnings of rivals. Revenue fell 5.6 per cent as interest rates declined, a setback for the bank’s diversification strategy. Like many challenger banks that grew rapidly in a high-rate environment by earning income on customer deposits, Starling has found that falling rates squeeze the margins on its core lending business.

“I don’t want a dip in profit, I want a healthy improvement in profit,” Smith tells City AM as she enters her sixth week in the job.

“If I could write the headline for Starling next year… it is we’ve made some changes, we’ve come out swinging with energy, and this is a consequence of that.”

Smith says the pace has already picked up. Just over a month into the role, she says at least one product or feature has been launched every week, from travel e-sims to business expense cards.

“Momentum is really important to use — momentum and velocity signals to the market that interesting things are happening at Starling,” she adds.

The revenue test

Smith is likely to be judged most closely on whether she can return revenue to growth, and do so through fee income.

“I’d like to see revenue go up, driven by fee income,” she says.

As the Bank of England continues its gradual cuts to interest rates, Britain’s challenger banks have increasingly turned to fee income as a key growth lever. The revenue stream offers more stability because it comes from specific services rather than interest earned on lending.

Across the sector, fintechs have moved quickly to broaden their income base. Monzo, which offers a weekly free Greggs sausage roll in its subscription services, posted 39 per cent growth in fee income to £459m last year. Revolut, where customers can access Tinder Gold as part of the “Metal” package, recorded 67 per cent growth in subscription service income, outpacing headline profit.

Starling, however, has stalled in the race to expand beyond core banking. Fee income was flat over the year at £128.2m, representing just over 14 per cent of group revenue — a notably lower share than several of its closest competitors have achieved.

Smith rejects the idea that Starling has a diversification “problem”, but says it is an issue the bank wants to address.

“I would definitely want to see [fee income] go higher than 15 per cent… I know it’s incredibly important to us that we increase that… it’s going to be a key priority for me,” she says.

Despite her energetic start, Smith says any move into fee-based products must be “really carefully thought out”. She rejects the idea of “throwing out products for the sake of charging subscriptions or fees if it doesn’t make sense”.

The coming weeks and months will be a key test for her new regime as she works to bring more products to market.

One of those will be working capital solutions for small businesses and sole traders, Starling confirmed, opening a new revenue stream by monetising everyday administrative processes.

Student accounts are also due next week, in a move that will make Starling the first neobank to offer the service.

A ‘game-changing’ use of capital

Longer term, Smith has £12.7bn in deposits to work with, according to Starling’s figures at the end of 2025.

The bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio stands at 41.2 per cent, meaning around £7.5bn is available for lending activities — a relatively low ratio that reflects Starling’s caution in expanding its lending book but also points to untapped capacity.

Starling has also benefited from the Bank of England raising the threshold for MREL regulation, which requires banks to hold additional capital based on the size of their assets.

The bank’s capital surplus exceeded £525m as of May 2026, something Smith says leaves multiple options open.

“We have the ability that many other firms don’t have because we have so much excess capital… it gives us optionality,” she says.

Starling’s leadership has made no secret of its appetite for acquisitions, and as Smith considers her three-year plan she says she is open to anything from “small and complementary” deals to something “absolutely game-changing for Starling”.

She describes a potential “game-changer” as something “sizable enough that it makes a significant impact” — an impact that could alter the conversation around the group.