Starling Bank founder Anne Boden will step down as chief executive next month after nearly 10 years at the helm of the British fintech.
The neobank founder said it was the right time to step aside off the back of a record pre-tax profit of £195m, a major increase from the year prior in which the company achieved its first year of profitability with £32.1m.
“It’s thrilling. When I look back at how I started Starling, I never thought we would get to this stage,” Boden told BBC Wales.
“Starling is bigger than just one person, it is bigger than a founder-led organisation. It is a piece of infrastructure that is important to the UK. We provide a real role in society.”
Boden will officially step down as CEO on 30 June but will retain her seat on the board and assume the role of non-executive director.
The fintech company is already looking for her replacement for chief executive, with COO John Mountain set to take over as interim CEO.
Founded in 2014, Starling Bank rose to prominence as part of a new wave of challenger banks including Monzo and Atom Bank.
Before the rise of open banking-powered fintech startups, it was almost unheard of to establish new banking institutions in the UK.
“People never believed that a 5ft tall Welsh woman in her mid-50s could do something that had never been done before,” said Boden, who spent more than three decades working in the banking sector before launching Starling.
“I had become ashamed to be a banker, I was ashamed to be part of that whole regime that had let the country down.
“I wanted to do something different, I wanted to found a bank that was really good for customers, that was fair. And people never believed I could do it and be profitable. “So here we are, we have done it, proof positive.”
Boden added that Starling will continue to grow without her in charge and will eventually list on the stock exchange.
“It’s not going to be this year, but eventually Starling will list,” she said. “It will be at the right time.”
Listen to the UKTN Podcast in which Starling CEO Anne Boden talks VC bias, crypto risk and being the ‘odd one out’.
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