Who has a Starling card?
If you donāt have oneā¦ Why?
If you have one, what do you like about it?
I am constantly inundated with options for accounts and multi currency cardsā¦ And I want to know what you guys think! I travel a lot and just want something easier
Pleaseā¦ Help me out!
Iāve had one for over a year.
Use it mainly when Iām travelling - have used it with no problems in Belgium, Dubai and Hong Kong.
App is simple and doesnāt feel gimicky.
If you travel a lot Starling is ideal with no ATM charges for withdrawals. Never had an issue with card acceptance abroad either.
Just pick one and stick with it. Any of the neobanks should offer better foreign exchange than your bank.
Donāt get decision paralysis. Doing nothing costs you more.
I use Revolut for foreign exchange and transfers and nothing else. My balance is at 0 otherwise.
I switched a long time ago from HSBC to Starling via the current account switch service (CASS) being fed up with how bad the service and user experience was at HSBC (definitely for business bank accounts).
Starling were the first to offer personal, joint and business accounts when I made the switch. Perfect for payments abroad at zero FX fees and a great user experience overall.
I still use my revolut card for FX transfers as there is a small fee at Starling, but I donāt use it that often.
Iāve been using Starling as my main bank account for about a year now! Love it, no issues at all with it. I like the fact it gives you notifications about upcoming payments into and out of the account 24hrs before they happen. Like the fact you can control aspects of the card use from the app ie. switch on/off contactless payments, online, gambling etc. You can also lock card by toggling a button in app. Oh and you get monthly interest on your balance.
Iāve been using Starling for a while. I use it as my ādaily spendā account (I transfer money into it from my salary bank account in order to try and budget better). Works great and good features such as the pots, interest on all your holdings monthly, being able to lock the card (I did that once when I thought I lost a card). Canāt really complain about it 
I also have starling and i love it, the notifications help me minimise spending and Itās also pretty great for usage abroad.
@weenie thank you so much.
When you use the card in e.g. Hong Kong, do/did you have to load RMB onto the card? Or do you pay in GBPā¦ and Starling just charge you the money-market exchange rate at the time?
Thank you, @Han!
So basically - use it for the cheap fx rates (i.e. when travelling) but keep cash in my interest bearing account otherwise?
Thank you @Jim_mcgrain! So I would have GBP on the card, and Iām able to travel to the US and withdraw dollars without a fee? Thatād be awesome.
Does your cash earn interest while itās sitting in a Starling account?
@gmullebr thank you, thatās incredibly helpful. Just to be clear, I should expect to be charged when converting my pounds to dollars, but I can buy a dress from a US shop online without being charged? Thank you!
Hi @Pazza thank you, thatās very helpful to know it has monthly interest! I really like the fact that you can control card features too. If thereās was one thing you wish it had, what would that be?
Awesome, thank you @SimasZ
Can I ask then, what is it holding you back from having Starling as your main bank account (for your salary for example)?
@Prince thanks for getting back! Awesome, so youād recommend it for spending money, but maybe not as a main cash account? Iām looking to open a joint account with my husband so, sounds like it could be a good fit?
No need to load RMB or any other currency to your card - the Starling account is like any other UK current account.
You pay in their currency and Starling will convert at the market rate when the payment is taken from your account.
This is from my Starling statement, when I withdrew cash:
Perhaps research this as the banking in US might be different - Starling wonāt charge you a fee for withdrawing but the US banks/ATMs might charge you a fee.
Honestly, nothing really stopping me from switching to it fully (Iāve been considering doing that for a few months now). But mainly the way Iām using it works for me at the moment (for budgeting etc), so probably just being comfortable and a bit lazy to do the switch fully 
I have both Monzo and Starling accounts, no problems with either. Monzo is my main account (salary paid in) and I use it more than Starling, which I use to withdraw money while abroad.
I have also a legacy bank account which I keep for credit history purposes, but that remains empty.
The reason I open these is to spend money abroad, before I used to change cash in the UK before travelling. Now I just travel, withdraw some local currency from the ATM and pay everything I can with the cards.
Limit for Starling withdrawals overseas is Ā£300 a day.
