Starling outages: history, compensation and how to check if Starling is down

The Starling Bank status page records few long, app-wide outages since 2018. The longest problem on it was on 28 September 2019, when card transactions were declined for about 2 hours 40 minutes.

Is Starling down right now?

This page is a record, not a live monitor, so it cannot tell you whether Starling is working this minute. A status page at starlingbank.statuspage.io lists incidents for Starling Bank, but we could not confirm that Starling's own website links to it.

During an outage your money stays in your account: outages stop you reaching it or paying with it, they do not remove it. The Financial Ombudsman Service lists scams that exploit outages among the complaints it sees, so be wary of calls or messages offering help during one.

Major Starling outages

15 July 2026: Online card payments declined

On 15 July 2026 some online card transactions were declined from 9:42am to 10:02am. The Starling Bank status page rated it major and did not give a cause.

25 February 2026: Post Office cash services

On 25 February 2026 the Starling Bank status page reported that Post Office cash deposits and withdrawals were affected from 4pm to 6:55pm.

20 October 2025: Phone support problems

On 20 October 2025 the Starling Bank status page reported "technical difficulties" with phone calls to customer support from 9:30am to 2:55pm. Chat and email still worked.

29 May 2021: Card payments declined

On 29 May 2021 some Mastercard transactions, including some ATM withdrawals, were declined from 11:41am to 12:27pm. The Starling Bank status page rated it major.

22 January 2021: Payments and app disruption

From 5:32pm on 22 January 2021 customers had "issues making payments and with some app functions". The iOS app, Android app and new account opening were flagged. The app was usable again by 5:45pm and the incident closed at 6:08pm. It is the only app-wide event the Starling Bank status page rates critical. No cause was given.

28 September 2019: Card payments declined

On 28 September 2019 card transactions were declined, and mobile wallets and Post Office withdrawals were affected, from 4:41pm to 7:23pm. The status page said the transaction feed would "self correct in the coming days". It rated the incident major.

26 September 2019: App services disruption

From 8:33pm on 26 September 2019 customers had problems sending payments and messages in the app. Transaction updates and business online banking were also affected, and all eight components on the status page were flagged. It was fixed by 8:55pm and the incident closed at 3:13am the next day.

24 June 2019: Cloudflare outage

On 24 June 2019 a Cloudflare outage affected Starling's international payments, customer support and website from 12:56pm to 4:23pm.

14 September 2018: Card payments declined

On 14 September 2018 card transactions were declined from 4:40pm to 4:59pm. The app and account opening were also flagged as affected.

Incidents Starling reported to the FCA

Since August 2018 every bank or brand with at least 70,000 personal current accounts, or 15,000 business current accounts, must publish each quarter how many major operational or security incidents it reported to the FCA: the total, and how many hit telephone, mobile and internet banking, for the latest quarter and the latest 12 months.

Has Starling been fined for IT failures?

We found no FCA or PRA fine against Starling Bank Limited for an IT or operational-resilience failure.

In October 2024 the FCA fined Starling Bank Limited £28,959,426 for financial crime failings in its financial sanctions screening, and for repeatedly breaching a requirement not to open accounts for high-risk customers. The fine was not about an outage.

Your rights if an outage costs you money

No law sets a fixed amount of compensation for a bank outage. What you are owed depends on what it cost you, and banks decide most cases themselves.

If a payment you made fails or goes wrong, your bank must refund it without undue delay and put your account back as it would have been, and it is liable for any charges and interest you have to pay as a result. It is not liable if the failure was caused by abnormal and unforeseeable circumstances beyond its control that could not have been avoided.

The Financial Ombudsman Service says that when it upholds an outage complaint it can tell the bank to refund extra costs caused by the outage, such as overdraft or late-payment charges, and to pay for distress and inconvenience. In one case it published, a bank offered £25 after a multi-day outage and the Ombudsman told it to pay a further £75.

Complain to the bank first. For a complaint about a payment it must reply in full within 15 business days, or 35 in exceptional cases; for other complaints within eight weeks. You then have six months from its final response to take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge.

Frequently asked questions

Is Starling down today?

This page records past outages and cannot show Starling's status this minute. A status page at starlingbank.statuspage.io lists incidents for Starling Bank, but we could not confirm that Starling's own website links to it.

How often does Starling have outages?

The Starling Bank status page records few long, app-wide outages since 2018. The longest problem on it was on 28 September 2019, when card transactions were declined for about 2 hours 40 minutes. In its latest published figures Starling reported 0 major operational or security incidents to the FCA in the 12 months to 30 June 2026.

When was the last big Starling outage?

15 July 2026: On 15 July 2026 some online card transactions were declined from 9:42am to 10:02am. The Starling Bank status page rated it major and did not give a cause.

Will Starling compensate me for an outage?

If a payment failed or went wrong, your bank must refund it and is liable for the charges and interest that result. Beyond that there is no fixed amount: complain to the bank, and if you are unhappy with its answer the Financial Ombudsman Service can order it to refund costs and pay for distress and inconvenience.

How do I complain about a Starling outage?

Complain to the bank first and keep evidence of any costs, such as late-payment or overdraft charges. It has 15 business days to answer a complaint about a payment and eight weeks for others. You then have six months to take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free.

More: Starling's credit rating and safety record, outage figures for every UK bank, and outage histories for Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Chase UK, first direct, Halifax, HSBC UK, Lloyds Bank, Metro Bank.