Starling Bank sustainability score: 28/100
Better than 20% of Financial Services / Banking
Below expectations starts at 31. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Starling Bank is a UK-based digital retail and SME bank founded in 2014, headquartered in London. Branchless and app-first, it holds £12.1B in customer deposits and a £2.3B+ mortgage portfolio.
More about Starling Bank
With 4,158 employees, it operates as a software-driven fintech bank competing against traditional lenders and other digital challengers.
Founded 2014Head office London, GBStaff ~3,231Revenue ~£714MWebsite ↗
Starling Bank reports low operational emissions but excludes financed emissions entirely—the material impact for any lender. Absolute emissions have risen across three annual reports. SBTi commitment was removed; net-zero target lacks credibility. A £29M FCA fine for financial crime controls in October 2024 compounds governance concerns.
Starling Bank scores 28/100 (Significant gaps) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified May 2026.
That places Starling Bank joint 783rd of 1,023 companies scored, and 49th of 61 in Financial Services / Banking.
What is Starling Bank doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Controversies & Red Flags (6/10, 6/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Targets & Commitments (0/10, 2/10).
Where Starling Bank lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Whether its emissions are fallingShow its emissions are falling.
- Its climate targetsSet specific targets with dates.
- Emissions from its supply chainAssess where its supply-chain emissions come from.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations6/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain3/10No assessment of where its supply-chain emissions come from.
- Whether its emissions are falling0/10No evidence its emissions are falling.
- How clean its energy is5/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature3/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
- How it uses materials and handles waste4/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water3/10No monitoring of water use, or no measures to reduce it.
- Its climate targets2/10No specific targets with dates.
- How openly it reports4/10No dedicated sustainability role, board oversight or public report.
- Its record on controversies6/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Starling Bank's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Starling Bank's score changed?
Starling Bank's score has moved from 42 to 28 across 2 recorded reviews, down 14 points.
- 42 → 28-147 November 2026
Sources replaced with the company's own or independent reports. Question 3 lowered: its annual reports show emissions rising. With no financed emissions published, the 0.70x floor for banks now applies.
- Scored 426 April 2026
Initial score at platform launch
What evidence is Starling Bank's score based on?
9 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
44% of them were published by Starling Bank itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 6 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
Starling's 237 t covers its operations only. It publishes no financed emissions, so the 0.70x floor for banks applies.
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How does Starling Bank compare with other financial services / banking companies?
Where Starling Bank sits among financial services / banking peers.
Among the 61 major financial services / banking brands we've scored, Starling Bank sits 49th of 61.
Who scores higher in Financial Services / Banking?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Starling Bank.
Wells Fargo dropped its financed-emissions targets and its 2050 net-zero financing goal in February 2025, and publishes no financed-emissions total or other Scope 3 data.
See the breakdown →BNP Paribas leads in operational transparency and TNFD biodiversity commitments but remains Europe's largest funder of fossil fuel expansion.
See the breakdown →Morgan Stanley reports operational emissions with Deloitte review, but publishes financed emissions only for six lending sectors and gives no total.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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