U.K. fintech Starling Bank has found a new leader in energy industry CEO Raman Bhatia, eight months after its founder Anne Boden stepped down following a clash with investors.
Bhatia, CEO of energy retailer Ovo, will take over the reins at Starling from interim CEO John Mountain early this summer, the bank announced Tuesday.
The learning curve to banking could be slight for Bhatia. He spent five years at HSBC overseeing various digital platforms, including First Direct, and M&S Bank, according to LinkedIn. He left at the end of 2019 to become chief operating officer at OVO.
Bhatia also is a board member of Bud Financial, a transaction intelligence and open banking fintech.
“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,” Bhatia said in a statement Monday. “I can’t wait to get started and to see what we can achieve together.”
Boden, in a prepared statement, said she believes Bhatia can take the bank she founded “into its next phase of growth while cherishing the culture and values we have worked so hard to instil in everything we do.”
Starling’s chair, David Sproul, indicated that Mountain would stay on at Starling after Bhatia becomes CEO, though the bank’s statement did not specify in what capacity.
“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,” Sproul said.
Mountain had been Starling’s chief operating officer for a year before taking the interim CEO title, and was Starling’s chief information officer for six years before that, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Sproul also said he sees “significant opportunities” under Bhatia’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.”
Boden established Starling, originally called Possible Financial Services, in 2014, with the goal of creating an entirely online bank. She was previously chief operating officer at Allied Irish Banks, and head of Europe, Middle East and Africa global transaction services at Royal Bank of Scotland.
Nine years after it was established, Starling tallied 3.6 million customers.
Last May, a dispute with investors developed following an estimated £1 billion drop in Starling’s valuation, which came when Jupiter Asset Management sold its Starling holding at a lower price than the bank’s valuation. The issue caused Boden, who holds a 4.9% stake in the bank, to step away from the CEO role.
“It was Anne’s decision to step aside as CEO,” Sproul said to Financial Times in June. “Anne made the decision, with the support of the board, that her two roles as CEO and major shareholder were not compatible given the size of Starling today and its ambitions.”
Handing over her CEO responsibilities would enable her to “focus on my position as a shareholder, championing Starling and ensuring we hold true to our values and vision,” Boden said at the time.
