Digital bank Starling has doubled the size of its Cardiff office and created hundreds of new jobs as its growth continues.
It now has 868 employees based in the region, a 117% increase on the bank’s original 2020 pledge to hire 400.
The new jobs cover a wide range of roles across the bank from financial crime and engineering to customer service and data science.
Starling’s Cardiff team has helped develop new capabilities for the bank, including bills manager, a feature to help customers pay their bills on time, and a dedicated app for its childrens’ banking service, Kite.
It was also the first to deliver personalised contactless limits in response to the limit increase in October 2021.
“Cardiff is a dynamic and entrepreneurial city with a rich talent pool. Our office here is important to our growth as we benefit directly from the capital’s outstanding universities and fintech expertise,” said founder and CEO Anne Boden.
Susanna Yallop, chief people officer, added: “We’ll keep creating new roles in the region as we continue our mission to change banking for good. We’re always on the lookout for keen technologists and customer experience agents and hire based on attitude and aptitude.”
Starling now has 1,854 employees across its four offices in Cardiff, London, Southampton and Dublin. Cardiff is its biggest base.
The bank now holds almost three million customer accounts with Wales, Yorkshire and Scotland seeing the biggest increases in the last year. It is also expanding its lending services following the acquisition of specialist mortgage broker Fleet Mortgages last year.
Last month it announced plans to scale its banking-as-a-service and software-as-a-service propositions worldwide after securing £131.5 million in an internal investment round.
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Wales Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said: “Starling Bank came to Wales because of the strength of our thriving FinTech sector, which is delivering economic value and high-quality, rewarding job opportunities.
“Starling’s rapid growth in Cardiff is a testament to both its outstanding performance and to the talented workforce that is available in Wales to tech businesses looking to scale operations. I wish Starling Bank a long and successful future in Cardiff.”