Egidio
Prevention and reimbursement · Starling

Starling customer: what APP fraud protection actually covers — and a fine worth knowing about.

A sourced, neutral reading of what Starling states officially about fraud — not to talk you into switching banks, just to help you know where you stand.

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What Starling actually offers

Starling follows the same mandatory PSR reimbursement rules as every UK provider since October 2024. Separately — and worth knowing, since it concerns the bank's own financial-crime controls rather than any individual claim — the FCA fined Starling £39 million in October 2024 over failings in its financial-crime systems, including sanctions-screening gaps.

£39m FCA fine Imposed on Starling in October 2024 over failings in its financial-crime and sanctions-screening controls — a regulatory finding about the bank's systems, not an individual customer's claim.
"Safe account" scam guidance Starling's own blog highlights the pattern of a fraudster posing as the bank or police, urging a customer to move money to a new account for "safekeeping".
“Genuine high-risk investment... a civil dispute”
Starling's own stated reason for declining a customer's APP fraud claim in a real Ombudsman case: the loss was treated as a failed high-risk investment, not a scam covered by the reimbursement code — and the complaint was not upheld.
Financial Ombudsman Service, decision DRN-6255384
What this means, precisely. As with several other providers, the line between a scam and a failed legitimate investment is where claims most often stall. Starling's position in this case — that the dispute was civil in nature, not a scam — was accepted by the Ombudsman.

What actually happens in practice

Real Ombudsman decision

In decision DRN-6255384, a customer (referred to as Mr M) complained that Starling Bank declined to refund money lost in what he believed was a scam. Starling's position was that it was a genuine high-risk investment that failed, and that the dispute was civil in nature — not covered by the reimbursement code. The Ombudsman did not uphold the complaint.

Source: Financial Ombudsman Service, decision DRN-6255384, consulted 30/07/2026.

Why Egidio, alongside this

Egidio doesn't replace Starling's protection, and doesn't try to. It acts one step earlier: detecting and blocking the manipulation attempt — the call, the message — before any payment is ever authorised. That's the difference between a claim decided case-by-case after the loss, and the loss never happening.

For the full comparison across UK banks and networks, see the "Before the Claim" page →

Frequently asked questions

Was Starling fined for fraud reimbursement failures?

No. The £39 million FCA fine, in October 2024, concerned failings in Starling's financial-crime and sanctions-screening systems generally — a regulatory finding about the bank's controls, separate from individual APP fraud reimbursement decisions.

Does Starling always cover a failed investment as a scam?

No. A real Ombudsman case (DRN-6255384) shows Starling can decline a claim by classifying the loss as a genuine high-risk investment gone wrong rather than a scam — and the Ombudsman upheld that position in that instance.

Does Egidio replace Starling's fraud protection?

No. Egidio is not a bank and does not process reimbursement claims. It acts earlier — detecting and blocking the manipulation attempt before any payment is authorised at all.