Engine
Engine by Starling is a UK-based cloud-native SaaS banking platform that enables banks to launch digital banks, modernise legacy cores, or run sidecar propositions, with named customers including Starling Bank, Salt Bank, AMP Bank GO, and Tangerine Bank.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Engine does
Engine by Starling Limited is a UK-headquartered, cloud-native SaaS banking platform provider that enables financial institutions to launch new digital banks, modernise legacy core systems, or operate sidecar propositions. Founded in 2022 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Starling Bank and headquartered in London, Engine commercialises the same technology that has powered Starling Bank since 2016. The platform is pre-integrated and modular, comprising Core Banking (ledger, lending, payments, card processing, compliance, onboarding, financial crime), Products (transaction accounts, savings, lending, credit cards, overdrafts), a Management Portal for bank operations, and Mobile SDKs for iOS and Android. Notable proprietary components include an MDES-certified in-house card processor supporting Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Garmin Pay, a near real-time ledger, an in-house contact centre, and a Data Feed API for real-time analytics.
Engine sells exclusively to enterprise financial institutions (banks, building societies, fintechs, corporates) through direct B2B enterprise sales, supported by implementation partners PwC, Deloitte, and GFT. Revenue is generated through multi-year subscription SaaS contracts (e.g., a 10-year agreement with Tangerine Bank signed November 2025) plus managed services covering platform updates, security, and continuous innovation. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The platform holds SOC 1, SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001:2022, PCI-DSS, and PCI-3DS certifications, and was named a Challenger in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Retail Core Banking Systems, Europe.
The company operates from offices in London, Cardiff, Manchester, Southampton, Dublin, New York, Toronto, Sydney, and Dubai, employing 350+ people across 30 nationalities. Named customers include Starling Bank (4.6M accounts), Salt Bank (Romania, launched April 2024), AMP Bank GO (Australia, launched February 2025), and Tangerine Bank (Canada, agreement signed November 2025). Leadership combines ex-Starling engineering and product talent (CEO Sam Everington, CTO Tom Beresford) with senior commercial hires including President North America Jody Bhagat (ex U.S. Bank, Citizens, Wells Fargo, Personetics).
Engine firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Engine
- Legal name
- Engine by Starling Limited
- Website
- https://enginebystarling.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Engine by Starling is a UK-based cloud-native SaaS banking platform that enables banks to launch digital banks, modernise legacy cores, or run sidecar propositions, with named customers including Starling Bank, Salt Bank, AMP Bank GO, and Tangerine Bank.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Engine industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Core Banking Platform (BaaS)
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Core Banking & Ledger Systems (Cloud Core, Deposits, Accounts) (FSAGAAAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- BaaS Platforms & Sponsor Bank Enablement (FSAGALAA), Credit & Overdraft Enablement (Credit Lines, Underwriting Integrations) (FSAGAAAJ), Processor-Agnostic / White-Label Acquiring Platforms (Acquiring-as-a-Service) (FSAMABAI), Card Issuing & Program Management Platforms (BPAMAFAH)
Keywords
Where Engine is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices10 records
Markets served
Engine business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- SaaS Platform Licensing: Engine operates as a SaaS provider offering its cloud-native banking platform on a subscription basis. Financial institutions pay for access to the complete digital banking platform including core banking, products, mobile SDKs, and management portal. Long-term agreements like the 10-year Tangerine deal suggest multi-year contract structures.
- Managed Services: Engine provides ongoing platform management, updates, and continuous innovation as part of its managed service offering. This includes 24/7 availability, security compliance (SOC 1, SOC 2, ISO 27001), and regular platform enhancements.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Enterprise SaaS platform subscription for financial institutions |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Engine product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Engine by Starling provides a cloud-native, pre-integrated SaaS digital banking platform that enables banks to launch new digital banks, modernize legacy core systems, or create sidecar propositions. The platform delivers complete core banking functionality including real-time ledger, payments, lending, card processing, compliance, financial crime management, and onboarding, along with pre-built mobile SDKs and a management portal, all configured rather than coded. It is sold to financial institutions on multi-year subscription contracts, with implementations typically completed within 12 months.
Product overview
Engine by Starling is a complete digital banking platform provided as a cloud-native SaaS solution. The platform architecture consists of the Engine Platform (the overarching cloud-native banking platform), Core Banking (providing foundational capabilities including Ledger, Lending, Payments, Card Processing, Compliance and Risk, Onboarding, and Financial Crime), Products (Transaction Accounts, Savings Accounts, Secured and Unsecured Lending, Credit Cards, and Overdrafts), Management Portal (employee interface for bank operations including Bank and Product Management, Account Management, Contact Centre, Cards and Payments Management, Dashboards and Workflows, and Data), and Mobile SDKs (modular pre-built mobile components for iOS and Android including Onboarding, Customer Support, Account and Security Controls, Personal Financial Management Insights, Savings and Budgeting Features, and Payments Hub). The platform is modular and API-based, allowing banks to configure and deploy products with rich digital features. Spaces is a key differentiating feature providing savings and budgeting functionality with sub-accounts, round-ups, and virtual cards.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Engine Platform A complete, cloud-native SaaS digital banking platform for financial institutions that integrates AI and third-party services and provides all capabilities needed to run a digital bank, including core banking, products, workflows, and a 360-degree customer view.
- Core Banking Pre-integrated core banking module providing ledger, lending, payments, card processing, compliance and risk, onboarding, and financial crime capabilities for banks replacing legacy systems or launching new digital banks.
- Management Portal All-in-one browser-based employee interface for operating and configuring a digital bank, including onboarding workflows, product configuration, card management, AML investigations, customer contact centre, lending management, decisioning rulesets, operational dashboards, roles and permissions, and audit logs.
- Mobile SDKs Pre-built and tested iOS and Android SDKs providing UI, UX, and customer journeys for onboarding, customer support, account controls, personal financial management insights, savings and budgeting features, and a payments hub to accelerate speed to market for digital banks.
- Transaction Accounts Retail and SME transaction accounts with seamless digital onboarding, real-time transaction feed, instant notifications, domestic and international payments, payee management, savings Spaces, card controls, virtual cards, Open Banking support, and AI-enabled features.
- Savings Accounts Modern suite of savings products including Fixed Term Deposits, Instant Access Savers, savings Spaces, and Cash ISAs, with daily interest accruals to the general ledger.
- Secured and Unsecured Lending Configurable lending product supporting origination, in-life management, and collections for retail and business customers, with internal and external decisioning capabilities.
- Credit Cards Configurable credit card products for retail and business customers with configurable credit limits, interest schemes, virtual cards, supplementary cards, loyalty scheme integration, and comprehensive lending capability.
- Overdrafts Arranged and unarranged overdraft functionality with configurable limits, dashboards, banded interest rates, and flexible forbearance options for customers in financial difficulty.
Quantifiable outcome
- Salt Bank launched with 480,000 customers in Romania within 12 months of contract signing
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Engine
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Engine technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability5 records
Feature9 records
Engine partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- Tangerine Bankflagship10-year agreement signed November 2025 for Engine to provide its cloud-native digital banking platform to Tangerine Bank's 2+ million clients in Canada. This is Engine's first North American client and largest deal signed to date. Tangerine will upgrade its core banking system to Engine's platform providing digital onboarding, accounts, savings, overdrafts, debit cards, and smart money management features.
- Salt BankcoreEngine powered the launch of Salt Bank in Romania as the country's first digital bank in April 2024. Salt Bank services 480,000 customers with ambitions to reach 700,000 in 2025. Successfully delivered within 12 months.
- AMP BankcoreEngine partnered with AMP Bank to build and launch AMP Bank GO, a new digital banking proposition in Australia. Public launch occurred in February 2025 with mobile-first experience for personal and business customers, particularly targeting underserved small business owners. Built within 12 months.
- PwCcorePwC serves as a trusted implementation partner for Engine, playing an integral role in defining paths to success for client deployments. Partnered with both AMP and Starling, PwC assists with system integration and transformation programs.
- DeloittecoreDeloitte is listed as a trusted global partner working with Engine to deliver digital banking transformations to financial institutions worldwide.
- GFTcoreGFT is a trusted global partner collaborating with Engine on digital banking implementations for financial services clients.
- OzonecoreOzone provides Open Banking Hub integration as part of Engine's fully integrated platform solution, enabling Open Banking compliance and data sharing capabilities.
- MastercardcoreMastercard partnership enables card issuing, processing, and mobile wallet provisioning (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Garmin Pay). Direct integration with Mastercard and Visa reduces cost, risk, and complexity for Engine-powered banks.
- VisacoreDirect integration with Visa for card processing capabilities, providing Engine-powered banks with global card network access and payment processing.
- ApplecoreApple Pay integration enables in-app provisioning and mobile wallet support for Engine-powered banks, delivering seamless payment experiences for customers.
- GooglecoreGoogle Pay integration enables mobile wallet support for Engine-powered banks' customers.
Scale indicators15 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Engine competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Mambu: Mambu is a SaaS core banking and lending platform used by neobanks, incumbents launching digital propositions, and fintechs. It competes with Engine across all three of Engine's primary use cases (new digital banks, legacy modernization, sidecar propositions) and shares the same SaaS, API-first delivery model targeted at financial institutions globally.
- Thought Machine: Thought Machine is a UK-headquartered cloud-native core banking platform (Vault) that sells to global retail, SME, and private banks, competing head-to-head with Engine in the same procurement processes (e.g., Lloyds, JPMorgan's BNY deployments). Same target buyer (Tier 1/2 bank CTOs), same cloud-native SaaS delivery model, and same focus on configuration over code, making it Engine's closest large-scale direct competitor.
- 10x Banking: 10x Banking sells a cloud-native core and digital banking platform to incumbents (e.g., NatWest, JPMorgan's BNY, Westpac) as well as newer entrants, directly competing with Engine in the same "replace the legacy core" RFPs. Same buyer, same cloud-native SaaS architecture, and similar claim of faster time-to-market.
- Backbase: Backbase offers a digital banking platform that includes digital onboarding, servicing, and lending journeys, often layered on top of incumbent core systems. It competes with Engine in the "sidecar" and digital-servicing modernization use cases and overlaps on management portal / digital engagement functionality aimed at banks modernizing customer experience.
Emerging players
- nCino: nCino provides a cloud banking platform centered on commercial, SME, and retail lending plus account opening and onboarding, increasingly expanding into full retail digital banking. It overlaps with Engine in digital onboarding, lending workflows, and bank employee portals, and is a frequent comparison point for banks evaluating single-platform digital and core transformations.
- Personetics: Personetics is an AI-driven personalization and customer engagement/financial insights platform embedded into bank digital channels. Engine's PFM Insights SDK and Data module directly overlap with Personetics' core offering; Personetics was also founded/led by Jody Bhagat's prior circle, making it a relevant emerging peer in the data/engagement layer that increasingly anchors digital banking modernization deals.
Broad incumbents
- Temenos: Temenos is a long-established, broad incumbent core banking vendor (Temenos Core, T24, Wealth) serving thousands of banks globally. While its product set is far wider than Engine's - and historically on-premise - it competes with Engine in modernization RFPs where incumbents are considering cloud-native replacements, and is typically benchmarked alongside Engine in Gartner's retail core banking Magic Quadrant.
- Finastra: Finastra is a large established provider of core banking, lending, treasury, and capital markets software (FusionFabric.cloud, Equation, Laserfin). It competes with Engine in bank modernization procurements, particularly with mid-to-large retail and corporate banks, although its portfolio is much broader and more legacy than Engine's cloud-native stack.
- Oracle Financial Services: Oracle Financial Services provides an enterprise-scale core banking and analytics stack (FLEXCUBE, OBIEE-derived analytics) used by large global banks. While its deployment footprint skews on-premise/legacy, Oracle remains a benchmarked incumbent in Tier 1 bank core modernization procurements where Engine increasingly competes.
- Fiserv: Fiserv (including the former First Data) provides a broad fintech and banking technology portfolio - core banking, card issuing/processing, merchant acquiring, and digital channels (Fiserv DNA, Output Solutions). It competes broadly with Engine across incumbents seeking end-to-end banking modernization and is a frequent incumbent incumbent being displaced by cloud-native entrants like Engine.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Engine social profiles
Digital presenceEngine compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance6 records
Engine financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Engine leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Engine funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Engine M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Engine
What does Engine do?
Engine by Starling provides a cloud-native, pre-integrated SaaS digital banking platform that enables banks to launch new digital banks, modernize legacy core systems, or create sidecar propositions. The platform delivers complete core banking functionality including real-time ledger, payments, lending, card processing, compliance, financial crime management, and onboarding, along with pre-built mobile SDKs and a management portal, all configured rather than coded. It is sold to financial institutions on multi-year subscription contracts, with implementations typically completed within 12 months.
Is Engine a public or private company?
Engine is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Engine founded?
Engine was founded in 2022. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Engine based?
Engine is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Engine make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. SaaS Platform Licensing is the primary driver. The others are managed Services.
Who are Engine's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Mambu, Thought Machine, 10x Banking and Backbase. Emerging players are nCino and Personetics. Broad incumbents are Temenos, Finastra, Oracle Financial Services and Fiserv.
Does Engine have an API?
Yes. Engine provides a rich, granular API-based platform enabling banks to build and extend their offerings. The platform is described as modular, API-based, and extensible with pre-integrated capabilities. APIs enable features including transaction management, payments, onboarding, and data access. Engine's Data Feed API enables granular analytics and hyper-personalization. The platform integrates with third-party services through APIs and supports Open Banking integrations. Developer documentation is at docs.enginebystarling.com.
What industry is Engine in?
Engine's product category is Core Banking Platform (BaaS). Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAGAAAC, Core Banking & Ledger Systems (Cloud Core, Deposits, Accounts), with a secondary code of FSAGALAA, BaaS Platforms & Sponsor Bank Enablement. Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.