After mentioning Wealthsimple and Habito as future partners when its third-party marketplace launched in February, Starling Bank has now confirmed that the two partnerships will be going live today for users to access within the app.
As a digital wealth management platform, Wealthsimple allows users to invest in low-cost ETFs via its Basic account with no minimum investment required, at the cost of a 0.7 per cent management fee. The platform now has more than 75,000 clients, and manages over £1.2bn in assets.
Mortgage broker Habito, on the other hand, seeks to find users their ideal mortgage by surveying options from more than 70 lenders. It then provides a dedicated mortgage expert to accompany them through the switching process, charging no fees to users throughout the entire process.
Starling has said that it hopes to launch 25 marketplace partners by the end of the year, with a specific focus being placed on partnerships for its new business account users. Speaking at the AltFi London Summit in March, CEO Anne Boden also mentioned that Starling has more than 90 partners queued up to negotiate access to its marketplace.
The bank recently added another robo advice firm Wealthify to its offering just last week, marking a move towards including competitor services for users to choose from rather than seeking to simply cover all bases. Both Wealthsimple and Wealthify were previously available in rival bank Monzo’s marketplace, until the bank decided to remove investments and savings accounts from its beta programme.
Chief product officer Megan Caywood added today: “Habito and Wealthsimple are disruptive companies that have succeeded inshaking up traditional, tired industries with products that make their customers lives simpler – just like us at Starling. Our marketplace is at the heart of our business and we will be making further additions very soon.”
