Starling cards

[Diddums 4,346]

Just got my Starling card, can't wait to use it. For those of you scratching your heads right now, it's a pre-paid credit card which you top up whenever you want and it keeps track of your spending with an app. The app automatically categorizes your expenditure into things like travel, shopping, fast food, etc. Basically if you're like me and just buy everything you want all the time and then have to eat beans on toast for the rest of the month and are too lazy to do a proper budget, it's absolutely superb. You can use the card worldwide for no extra fees whatsoever, and above all, it's 100% free. 

 

It also has a "card freeze" facility which disables your card instantly and unfreezes it at your command. Great for if you're prone to misplacing stuff or just for extra security. 

 

We signed up on Thursday and the cards arrived today ready for use in what is hands down the coolest card delivery method I've ever seen. This guy demonstrates it at 40 seconds:

 

 

 

 

Sadly there aren't many vids of it on the 'tube yet and most of the ones on there are crap but this is probably the least crap of the lot:

 

 

The only drawback I can see so far is that you can't top it up with credit card which I prefer as it gives me the credit card protection stuff (for the Muricans out there we have protection on credit cards, so if you buy something and the retailer is a dick, the credit card company will refund your money and take care of it, dunno if it's the same Stateside). Then again, as it's Mastercard it might have this facility already, dunno.

 

Anyway, just thought I'd share it, Kyla and I are gonna give it a go for a while and see how it goes, will report back later

[GazzaGarratt 11,037]

Being in this industry, I must say this is the emerging market now. The freeze of the card is impressive as you can do it off and on in an instant.

This looks like they have copied Monzo on this which is an emerging bank purely online.

I'm genuinely interested in the features it has mate to 'manage' your finances. Is it customisable? Are warnings available to apply for yourself?

[Diddums 4,346]

19 minutes ago, GazzaGarratt said:

Being in this industry, I must say this is the emerging market now. The freeze of the card is impressive as you can do it off and on in an instant.

This looks like they have copied Monzo on this which is an emerging bank purely online.

I'm genuinely interested in the features it has mate to 'manage' your finances. Is it customisable? Are warnings available to apply for yourself?

Starling has been around for much longer than Monzo which is why I went for it. Monzo also has waiting lists and we all know how patient I am. Monzo is lacking many features and doesn't even have a current account whereas Starling does. Monzo looks good but it's still a bit wobbly for me, no chance I'm putting money in a company like that yet.

 

I'm not sure of the features but you can sign up in less than 1 min and it's 100% free so download the app and give it a go! 

 

I love disruptive technologies and absolutely despise our thieving, corrupt, predatory banking system so anything to get away from it (hence my massive Bitcoin venture but let's not talk about that). 

 

Go download the app. Do it now.

[GazzaGarratt 11,037]

Starling has been around for much longer than Monzo which is why I went for it. Monzo also has waiting lists and we all know how patient I am. Monzo is lacking many features and doesn't even have a current account whereas Starling does. Monzo looks good but it's still a bit wobbly for me, no chance I'm putting money in a company like that yet.
 
I'm not sure of the features but you can sign up in less than 1 min and it's 100% free so download the app and give it a go! 
 
I love disruptive technologies and absolutely despise our thieving, corrupt, predatory banking system so anything to get away from it (hence my massive Bitcoin venture but let's not talk about that). 
 
Go download the app. Do it now.

I didn't realise they've been out longer. That makes me feel like they haven't tried to do a heavy Marketing campaign.

The thing with disruptive tech is to start embracing their charge early doors. It may be worth just having one there so I can dabble in it.


However, you'll use those features way more than me. I've been used to being strict and disciplined with money for far too long [emoji12]

[Diddums 4,346]

7 minutes ago, GazzaGarratt said:

 

I didn't realise they've been out longer. That makes me feel like they haven't tried to do a heavy Marketing campaign.

The thing with disruptive tech is to start embracing their charge early doors. It may be worth just having one there so I can dabble in it.


However, you'll use those features way more than me. I've been used to being strict and disciplined with money for far too long

 

 

 

It's free, no reason not to give it a go. And we all know how I am with money.

[J4MES OX4D 10,025]

I've got my one here

[Sennex 1,903]

This sounds awesome. Will it make it easier to pay you for your services now?

[Diddums 4,346]

Well a month in, a few thoughts. 

 

First off, this is a life changer for me. As someone who just buys whatever he wants all the time and then wonders how many nectar points he has on his nectar card at the end of the month, this has changed my life. I can't budget for shit, never have, so I put a bit on it every week and that's my budget. It's really forced me to think about every penny I spend and I've got loads of money now oddly. 

 

As for the card itself, I've yet to find a place where it's not accepted or doesn't work. Topping up is instant and transactions appear instantly and I get a notification on my phone every time I spend any money. My only issue which is in no way Starling's fault, is that TFL doesn't charge me instantly for my travel, but rather calculates it later on due to capping. So it'll reserve a 10p fee when I enter a tube station and then a few days later hit me with the rest. It's not a big issue, it's just something I need to be mindful of. 

 

The app is fantastic and extremely intuitive. I haven't even explored all the features and only looked at the basic stuff but it's blown me away.

 

The uses this has is immense. If you have kids and want to give them pocket money, this is perfect. I'm yet to suss out how this company makes any money but I don't really care.

 

Honestly if you suck with money then you need one of these. @crispymorgan I apologise for taking the piss. Saving money is fucking awesome (will still take piss though).

[tronic44 3,642]

On 28/01/2018 at 4:31 PM, Sennex said:

This sounds awesome. Will it make it easier to pay you for your services now?

Is Dave taking card now? Hookering has really cum on leaps and pounds.