Starling's Board Is Shrinking. McPike's Influence Is Growing
Hey Digital Banking Fanatic!
Starling Bank is making some significant changes at the top.
A number of directors have recently exited or announced plans to do so. With the board set to become smaller rather than being fully rebuilt, Harald McPike's influence over the bank is likely to become even more significant.
The timing is interesting. Starling is navigating many of the same questions that digital banks across Europe are facing today: future growth, profitability, expansion, and the long-term path toward a potential IPO.
And it's not happening in isolation. Over the past year, we've seen a series of leadership and governance changes across some of Europe's largest digital banks. Monzo announced the departure of CEO TS Anil. Revolut recently saw long-time executive Dmitry Streletchuk leave the company, while co-founder Vlad Yatsenko moved into a new role.
Now Starling is going through its own leadership transition. A few years ago, the biggest stories in digital banking were customer growth and funding rounds. Today, boardrooms, governance, and succession planning are becoming part of the conversation, too.
And if you'd like to see how the sector is performing overall, keep scrolling for this week's Digital Banking performance breakdown.
Today's remaining Digital Banking headlines are just below. 👇 See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
HOW DIGITAL BANKING PERFORMED LAST WEEK
📈 How did Digital Banking stocks perform last week? Let's find out:
NEWS
🇩🇪 N26 releases new virtual cards with Mastercard, featuring themes related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, offering customers four football-inspired designs: Pitch, Jersey, Crowd and Match Ball. The cards can be added instantly to Apple Pay or Google Wallet and are available free until July 20, 2026. Read on
🇧🇷 Ebury Bank joins Brazil’s crypto association ABcripto, strengthening the presence of global financial institutions in the country’s digital asset ecosystem. The move follows Ebury’s acquisition of Bexs Banco and reflects growing integration between traditional finance, foreign exchange and crypto markets.
🇬🇧 Starling Bank shrinks board as McPike cements control. Starling Bank is reducing the size of its board following a series of departures, increasing the influence of its largest shareholder, Harald McPike. The changes come amid reported disagreements over the bank’s strategy and growth ambitions.
🚨 Nubank crossed $5B in quarterly revenue for the first time in Q1'26, while maintaining a 29% ROE and adding another 4 million customers.
🇧🇷 NuCel, Nubank’s mobile service developed with Claro, has surpassed 1 million customers just 17 months after launch. The milestone highlights Nubank’s strategy to expand beyond financial services by integrating connectivity, digital payments and customer benefits into its ecosystem.
🇬🇧 Pollen Street Capital has agreed to acquire Universal Banking, Finastra’s core banking software business, which serves more than 150 financial institutions across 100+ countries. The deal will support UB’s growth as a standalone company, with investments planned in AI, data capabilities and product innovation.
🇪🇺 EU is weighing new powers to ease duplicated capital rules for banks. The proposal would shift compliance to the parent-company level, a move aimed at reducing regulatory fragmentation and potentially freeing up funds for lending. The Commission's final report is due next month, with ​legislative proposals expected to follow next year.
🇩🇰 Festina Finance secures over €25 million in growth funding from Birchway Capital, valuing the company at around €200 million. The investment will support platform development, team expansion, and European growth as pension and life insurers modernize legacy systems.
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