The news: UK digital bank Starling is exploring an acquisition of another UK lender, per the Financial Times. The move could help it expand quickly into corporate lending, which may offer stronger returns on some of its roughly £12 billion ($9.4 billion) in deposits.

To date, Starling has steadily expanded products and services for UK small businesses, including accounts for businesses and sole traders, features like digital bookkeeping, and bulk payments.

Starling has pushed into lending primarily through acquisition. It bought buy-to-let mortgage lender Fleet Mortgages in 2021 for £50 million ($39.1 million). Mortgages represented 92.1% of total lending as the company wound down government-backed lending as of its 2025 annual report. Its loan portfolio was £4.7 billion ($3.7 billion).

Zoom out: Alongside its UK lending plans, Starling is plotting a US expansion. As of July, it was considering acquiring a nationally chartered US bank as well as launching a US IPO. Starling has opened offices in the US and Canada to sell its digital infrastructure product and signed its first client in November.

Our take: Starling is not the only foreign neobank with US plans. Revolut, which competes with Starling globally, has held talks with investment bankers about buying a bank to secure a US license. Brazil’s Nubank applied for a US bank charter in October, and Chime has gone public. But barriers to entry are rising as US challenger banks mature. Given the challenges ahead, quickly growing its loan book will be crucial to Starling’s profit plans.