Online lender Starling Bank plans to expand to France and Germany after it enters Ireland, once its application for membership of the single euro payments area comes through, City A.M. reported, citing the bank's CEO, Anne Boden.
Starling Bank will be "breaking even in about two years' time," Boden added. She said the bank had provisioned to establish an EU subsidiary and that Brexit would not affect its expansion plans, adding that there were plans to raise £40 million by June 2018.
The challenger bank has received a U.K. banking license with restrictions, after securing approval by the U.K. Prudential Regulation and Financial Conduct authorities.
Further, the online lender is planning to launch an online platform dedicated to small- and medium-sized enterprises in the second half of 2018, subject to securing a grant from a £120 million pool of Royal Bank of Scotland's £425 million capability and innovation fund, City A.M. reported.
