Open Banking in action – giving entrepreneurs and growing businesses access to capital when they need it

Starling Bank, the mobile-only bank, and Growth Street, the peer-to-peer business lender, are joining forces to give the nation’s five million small business owners better access to the flexible finance they need to prosper and grow.

Growth Street will be the first SME finance provider to go live on Starling’s in-app Marketplace, which gives users access to a range of services from pensions to insurance to loyalty schemes. The Starling partnership is Growth Street’s first marketplace integration, and represents the first live use of Growth Street’s third-party API.

Initially, the Starling interface will work for existing and new users of Growth Street’s flagship SME finance product, GrowthLine. Growth Street customers will be able to access real-time information on their facility limits and available funds through the Starling Marketplace.

Growth Street’s peer-to-peer platform matches investors’ funds with growing SMEs. Its GrowthLine credit facility works much like an overdraft: once a business customer is given a limit, they can draw down funds and make repayments as often as they like in a given month.

 Greg Carter, Growth Street CEO, said:

“I’m thrilled that we are now live on Starling’s Business Marketplace. We want to make business finance easier and faster than ever before, and giving users access to crucial information in real time is a great step towards that goal.

“Growth Street shares a vision with Starling: we both want to help businesses grow and prosper. Having the chance to make that happen together is very exciting.” 

Anne Boden, Starling Bank CEO, said:

“All too often, small businesses find it hard to access capital at the moments they need it most, often for reasons they can’t understand or don’t think fair.

“Through our partnership with Growth Street we will be helping Starling’s business account holders unlock new sources of flexible capital. This partnership will bring added value to customers of both Starling for Business and Growth Street.”