Starling vs Chase: Which is better?

Starling and Chase are two challenger banks in the UK, both offering an app-based banking experience, with helpful features to give you a better understanding of how you spend your money.

Challenger banks offer a digital-only way of banking, with all your typical banking needs handled within the app. Chase and Starling, as well as other digital banks like Revolut and Monzo have altered the norm for banking, providing an alternative to traditional high street banks.

Smart Money People reviewers score Starling and Chase very well, with Starling achieving 4.93/5* and Chase 4.95/5* by their customers.

Starling and Chase are two popular digital banking options in the UK. Both have great spending analytics, a good offering abroad and innovative apps.

But which of them is better? We’ve compared Starling and Chase on their onboarding experiences, savings features and rates, overdraft facilities, cashback, customer service and security to find out which comes out top when it comes to digital banking. 

Starling vs Chase

Both Starling and Chase are fully licensed banks in the UK, which means they’re allowed to operate as banks and call themselves one. Neither have Premium accounts on offer, so the standard account offers all available features. This means you don’t have to pay a subscription for additional functionality. 

Both Starling and Chase are digital-only with no branches, so you fully manage the accounts within the app. 

Sign-up and onboarding

You sign up for both Starling and Chase accounts using their respective mobile apps. It’s quick and easy for both accounts. 

Once you’ve downloaded the app, you’ll answer some on-screen questions - these are pretty basic, including your address, what you do for work and how much you earn.

As part of both the Starling and Chase identity verification process, you’ll be asked to take a photo of your ID and take a video selfie. 

It usually only takes a few minutes to have your identity confirmed. After this, you can order a card and add it to your digital wallet, like Apple Pay or Google Pay, using it before the physical card arrives. 

Neither bank charges for your first card delivery but may charge you if you need to order a replacement card.

Starling vs Chase: Savings

With Chase you can set up a Chase Saver Account that pays 3.5% AER on balances up to £3m (at the time of writing). 

Chase also has a round-up feature. This rounds up all the payments you make on your card to the nearest £1 and puts it into your Chase Saver Account automatically. Chase will give your round-up balance a 5% AER (4.89% gross) variable interest boost (at the time of writing).

With Starling, you can save into Savings Spaces. These are personalised pots that are kept separate to your main balance. Like Chase, you can set goals and round up whatever you spend to the nearest pound and send the spare change to your chosen Savings Space. You can alter the amount that’s put away if you want to achieve your goal faster. Another benefit of Savings Spaces is that you can have a virtual debit card for every Space so you only spend the money that’s in the Space it’s linked to.

Despite being called Savings Spaces, they should be considered as more of a budgeting tool as you don’t earn any interest on them. 

If you want to earn interest on your savings, you can save with Starling’s Easy Saver account or the Fixed Saver. Both accounts will earn interest.

Overdrafts and borrowing

With Starling, you could get an overdraft with an interest rate of 15%, 25% or 35%. These are all lower than most bank overdrafts. If you’re approved, you’ll be offered a rate depending on your financial situation which involves a credit check. 

Once approved, you can change your spending cap. Starling won’t charge you if you go over your limit, although your payments might be declined. Starling also won’t charge you an additional fee on top of the interest you pay.

Chase doesn’t have an overdraft facility or any borrowing available at all. You also can’t take out a personal loan or credit card with either bank.

Customer service

Both banks are fairly equal when it comes to helping their customers.

Starling and Chase offer customer support through their apps and you can send over an email if you’re not in a hurry for a reply. 

With both banks, you can also get help over the phone. You can also see frequently asked questions to get help with more generic information. 

To find out what Chase and Starling customers think, our Smart Money People reviewers have been sharing their experiences, so you can read reviews for Chase current accounts and Starling current accounts.

Protection and security

Both Starling and Chase are FSCS protected. This means that if either of them went bust, up to £85,000 of the money held in your account is protected and can be claimed back as compensation.

A great thing about Chase is that you get a numberless card — the details are held within your app if you need to make an online payment. You can open multiple accounts and they’ll all use the same card. You can choose which account to pay from within the app.  

As mentioned before, with Starling, you can have a virtual card for each of your Savings Spaces. This means that if the details are shared, the card is only linked to the money in the Savings Space, rather than your main balance. 

With both banks, you can freeze your card or order a brand-new one from within the app. You may be charged for replacement cards.

Cashback and rewards

Chase pays you 1% cashback on all your spending when you open the account, up to a maximum of £15 per month. This is automatically given to you, so you don’t need to opt in, either.

Starling offers cashback as well, but only when you spend at specific retailers. You have to access this using a separate app called Tail, which you connect with your Starling account using Open Banking.

Is Starling or Chase better abroad?

Starling is a great choice for spending abroad. There are no restrictions to fee-free spending abroad, the spending and ATM withdrawal limits are exactly the same as when you’re at home.

With Chase, there’s no spending limit and you can withdraw up to £1,500 each month fee-free. You can also continue to earn 1% cashback on your eligible purchases. Chase has a calculator that will tell you what currency conversion rate you’ll get if you use your Chase card — this is found in ‘Manage card’ in the app.

With Starling and Chase, you’ll need to be careful not to use ATMs that charge for withdrawals, and if you’re asked whether you want to pay in your currency or the local currency, always go for the local one.

In a nutshell

Starling and Chase are really similar banks, with easy-to-use apps that help you manage your budget and fully understand where you spend your money. Here are some of the main similarities and differences between the accounts:

• Both banks are fully regulated in the UK and offer FSCS protection
• With Starling you can get a 15%, 25% or 35% overdraft. You can’t get an overdraft with Chase.
• You can get cashback at specific retailers with Starling. You get 1% back on all eligible purchases for the first year with Chase.
• Both banks are great options for spending abroad and have great limits. Chase also lets you earn cashback on spending abroad.
• Both banks have no branches and offer help over the phone, by email or using in-app chats.

*Ratings on the Smart Money People website in December 2024, when this blog was published.

Please note: This information was accurate as of November 2024, when the article was written. Make sure you do your own research when you take out any financial product.