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Starling Bank to issue spare debit card for trusted shoppers

Starling Bank is introducing the 'Connected card', a second card that customers can link to their existing account and give to anyone they trust to pay for groceries and other essential items on their behalf.

The spare debit card has been designed to help personal account customers who are self-isolating during the coronavirus emergency and are relying on friends, neighbours and community volunteers to get their shopping in.

Protected by a PIN and with a balance limit of £200, the card only permits users to spend in-store and not online.

Anne Boden, founder and CEO of Starling Bank says: “We know that getting in groceries and other essential items is a challenge for those who are self-isolating during the coronavirus emergency. So we came up with a solution to help our customers pay for supplies bought for them by trusted friends and neighbours without the hassle of transferring money or handling cash.

Personal account customers can apply for a Connected card on their Starling Bank app, and the card will be delivered to their registered address within five working days.

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Editorial | what does this mean?

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.

Comments: (2)

A Finextra member 08 April, 2020, 15:41

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How does this differ from me handing over my high-street bank card incl PIN to a trusted friend for shopping on my behalf after me adjusting the deposit amount on the card account to a sufficient one in on-line banking?

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Ketharaman Swaminathan - GTM360 Marketing Solutions - Pune 09 April, 2020, 11:55

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Brilliant product. Kudos to Starling Bank. Although one whose compelling need is legalistic in nature.

Not sure how widely it's known that, according to payment card rules, debit card and credit card are not transferable. You can't authorize anyone to use your debit or credit card. The only way for Y to use X's card to shop in X's behalf is, if the bank has issued another, transferable, linked card to X, which X can legally handover to Y. This is what Starling Bank has done.

This is one of those payment card rules that's widely broken but rarely called out. Rarely, but not never, though. There was this recent case where a woman was unwell. She handed over her debit card to her husband to go to an ATM to withdraw cash. The currency notes got stuck, no money came out, but the account got debited. Woman seeks refund from bank. Bank plays back CCTV feed, says cardholder is woman, but man was using card, so there's illegal use of card, so bank is not liable for refund. The customer filed a lawsuit with consumer court but court found for the bank.