Starling rolls out in-app tool to address bank impersonation

Challenger bank Starling has launched a new new in-app tool that helps customers identify bank impersonation scams.

A bank impersonation scam occurs when a criminal asks a victim to transfer money into a ‘safe account’ after convincing them their bank account has been compromised.

Starling’s new tool features ‘call status indicators’, which instantly let customers know if they’re receiving a genuine call from the challenger bank at that very moment.

This means customers can know for sure whether there is a scammer on the phone trying to persuade them to make a transaction.

The bank said that the move represents an “industry first”, with call status indicators visible on the home screen and within the payment screen where a customer would be looking if they were being pressured into transferring funds.

Starling said that the indicators will also let customers know if the bank has never called them or will give information on when the bank last called them.

When someone opens the company’s app to make a payment, they will see one of the following messages: “We’ve never called you”, “We’re calling you now”, “You’re on a call with Starling”, “We aren’t calling you” or “No recent calls [including information on when we last spoke with you]”.

The launch comes a month after the Financial Ombudsman Service announced that fraud and scam complaints have reached their highest ever quarterly level.

Across a three-month period from April to June, the service recorded over 8,700 cases compared to around 6,000 complaints during the same 12 weeks of 2024. Over half of these cases related to online bank transfers.

“We’re constantly looking for new ways to stop scammers in their tracks,” said Sarah Lenette, financial crime specialist, Starling Bank. “Bank impersonations are very sophisticated and anyone can become a victim.

“Call status indicators give our customers confidence to know whether they’re being contacted by a genuine representative of the bank, or a con artist, which is why we’re proud to launch this today.”

Starling also recently launched a Safe Phrases campaign to encourage families and friends to create a secret phrase, so they can verify they are talking to the real person in the event of an AI voice fraud.

In September, Starling Bank warned that AI voice cloning scams are on the rise, with 28 per cent of UK adults believing they have been targeted by the scam over the past year.

The scam involves fraudsters using AI to copy the voice of a friend or family member and using it to call or send a voice message asking for money urgently.

Starling said that the technology can replicate a person’s voice from as little as three seconds of audio, which can easily be captured from a video someone has uploaded online or to social media.

Earlier this year Starling Bank reported its third year of profitability with pre-tax profits jumping 55 per cent to £301.1 million in the year ending 31 March.

Additionally, the challenger bank announced that revenue has increased by around 50 per cent to £682.2 million. Deposits jumped by four per cent to £11 billion.

Starling said the results were driven by strong growth in revenue, active customers and customer transactions.