Starling Bank has announced the appointment of Raman Bhatia as group chief executive officer.
He will take over from John Mountain, who has been acting as interim CEO since founder Anne Boden announced she was stepping back from the role last year.
Bhatia is currently the chief executive of OVO, a leading technology-enabled energy retailer in the UK.
Before leading OVO he was the head of digital bank for HSBC’s retail banking and wealth management business in the UK and Europe, as well as being a member of its executive committee. This included responsibility for HSBC, First Direct and M&S Bank.
He brings a wealth of consumer tech and FinTech expertise to Starling, working in both scaled, regulated businesses and in entrepreneurial challengers.
Bhatia holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a trustee of Business in the Community. His new appointment is subject to formal approval by the regulators and we anticipate he will start at Starling in early summer.
David Sproul, chair of Starling Bank, said: “We see significant opportunities for Starling under Raman’s leadership as the economy stabilises, as our truly differentiated offering for personal and small business customers wins market share in the UK, and as our Engine by Starling Software-as-a-Service business secures further international contracts.
“I want to thank John Mountain for his wise stewardship of Starling these past eight months and am delighted that we will continue to benefit from his expertise at the company.”
Anne Boden, founder of Starling Bank, added: “I am pleased that in Raman we have found someone who can take Starling into its next phase of growth while cherishing the culture and values we have worked so hard to instil in everything we do.”
Raman Bhatia said: “I am truly honoured to be appointed as the next group CEO of Starling Bank. Starling is a company I have long admired because it believes passionately, like I do, in using the power of technology to do the right thing for its customers and its people. I can’t wait to get started and to see what we can achieve together.”
Starling Bank is an award-winning, fully licensed and regulated bank built to give people a fairer, smarter and more human alternative to the banks of the past. It offers personal, business, joint, euro and dollar current accounts alongside a children’s card.
Starling also provides a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) proposition through its subsidiary Engine, using the proprietary technology platform that powers its own bank.
Headquartered in London, the bank has offices in Cardiff, Dublin, Manchester and Southampton.