Starling Targets SMEs with Tailored AI Financial Assistant
Starling Bank, has announced that its AI financial assistant, launched in March earlier this year, has released a new version aimed at easing the burden of financial admin with a range of features designed to assist small businesses.
For the rest of the year, the bank has also announced that it will be adding one new tool to the financial assistant per week as it focuses on expanding the feasibility of the assistant.
“We know that managing finances can be a major drain on time for small businesses,” says Harriet Rees, Group Chief Information Officer at Starling.
- Starling Bank launched the UK’s first Mastercard cards made of recycled plastic
- The bank is aiming for 50% of its Senior Managers to be female by 2027
- Starling Bank was granted its banking licence in the UK in 2016
- The UK economy could see £25.3bn (US$34.5bn) through small business growth if SMEs adopted digital tools, says Starling research
- Anne Boden founded the bank in 2014
Delegation leads to productivity
Clients of the bank have the option to increase control over cashflow by dictating to the financial assistant commands such as setting aside 20% of earnings for VAT purposes.
The free tool, named Starling Assistant, uses a dedicated Space to set aside funds for various reasons.
By freeing up time, the assistant serves its purpose to make financial administration more efficient, and financial leaders more productive.
Starling also notes that the receipt tracker feature is currently laying the groundwork for an update later in the year.
Business owners are already able to upload receipts to their transactions, adding focus on organisation, which will soon combine with financial analysis.
Starling Assistant will upgrade the feature by later being able to “analyse and extract financial information” according to the bank.
We’re committed to boosting SME productivity, as Starling’s own research shows that if more small businesses adopted digital financial tools their growth could add £25.3bn (US$34.5bn) to the UK economy.”
Cyber security and government deadlines
In addition to savings opportunities and financial organisation, the AI financial assistant also offers small business owners a new level of protection against scams.
SME’s are able to add context of invoices and suppliers to the AI assistant, and Starling Assistant can then flag potential scams and advise the business owner on next steps.
Harriet continues: “Starling Assistant changes this by automating routine tasks and taking the guesswork out of money management.
“We’re committed to boosting SME productivity, as Starling’s own research shows that if more small businesses adopted digital financial tools their growth could add £25.3bn (US$34.5bn) to the UK economy.”
The bank has also added a Making Tax Digital Navigator, as it allows UK sole traders and landlords to understand their duties ahead of the deadlines set by the government for Income Tax obligations.
The assistant predicts when the users are likely to be mandated for MTD based on questions it asks about income levels.
It also has the ability to link to HMRC, pointing users in the right direction for official guidance on instructions for taxpayers, such as where to sign up.
Starling Bank is built with Google Gemini on the Google Cloud platform.
Additionally, it partnered with Small Business Britain in late 2025 to support women-backed businesses by giving free training programme to boost financial skills and confidence.
The neobank was founded by Anne Boden in 2014, making her the first woman to found a British bank. She stepped down in 2023, remaining on the Board as a non-executive director. The bank is currently under the leadership of Raman Bhatia, who took over as Executive Director and CEO in 2024.
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Harriet Rees
UK Government AI Champion - Financial Services
Raman Bhatia
Group CEO
