Starling Bank to introduce fee for current account holders who deposit more than £1,000 a year via the Post Office

From 1 March 2022, Starling personal current account and joint current account holders will be able to deposit up to £1,000/yr via the Post Office free of charge. You can either make a one-off deposit of £1,000 or make multiple payments that total £1,000.

But any further cash deposits via the Post Office of £1,000+ during that same calendar year will incur a 0.7% fee of the amount deposited. 

The Post Office is the only way to deposit cash into Starling accounts as it's an app-only bank with no physical branches. Starling says the fee reflects the "true cost" of offering the service via the Post Office but that it will only affect a small number of customers as most only use online banking. Starling currently has 2.5 million customers in the UK. 

To get around the fee, and as stated, Starling users can continue to make free cash deposits of less than £1,000 at the Post Office. Alternatively, they can deposit cheques of up to £500 for free via the Starling app. Cheques over £500 can be posted for free to 'FREEPOST Starling' - no stamp is required.

Electronic payments of any amount can also continue to be paid into your Starling account fee-free. 

If you prefer online banking, check out our guide to the Top App-based Bank Accounts. For further help picking  the right account for you, see our Best Bank Accounts guide.