Starling Bank is moving to deepen its appeal to small and medium-sized enterprises by snapping up Ember, a London-based accounting fintech founded in 2018. Ember provides tax and bookkeeping software that integrates with banking apps, and the deal is described as Starling’s first acquisition since Fleet Mortgages in 2021. Bloomberg reports the price as under £10 million, a figure not publicly disclosed by Starling, according to sources familiar with the matter. Ember’s client base already includes customers of HSBC, Revolut, Barclays and Lloyds, and Starling said Ember’s software would become exclusive to its SME banking platform and that Ember’s advisory services would be discontinued as part of the integration. Speaking to Tech.eu, Starling’s Adeel Hyder described Ember’s platform as “beautifully designed to simplify complex accounting tasks” for small businesses. The two founders of Ember, Daniel Hogan and Aaron Shaw, stressed that the partnership would help SMEs make faster, clearer financial decisions in a stress-free way. The deal would also position Starling to offer a tighter, all-in-one experience that spans banking, invoicing and tax submission for its 500,000 SME customers. FinTech Futures notes that the acquisition would mark Starling’s first takeover since 2021.

The move arrives as government policy in the United Kingdom accelerates the digitisation of tax reporting. Ember’s strategy aligns with the looming Making Tax Digital regime for Income Tax, which is being introduced in phases with quarterly digital submissions set to become mandatory for higher earners from 2026. The threshold levels are currently planned to be £50,000 for the 2026/27 year, falling to £30,000 in 2027/28, with further steps anticipated in later years. The government has emphasised that taxpayers should prepare now by adopting MTD-compatible software and by engaging with agents ahead of the rollout. Starling’s involvement in Ember’s platform is framed as a proactive step to help SMEs comply with the new rules, potentially smoothing the transition for customers who want a seamless banking-and-tax toolkit in one place. Tech.eu and FinTech Futures describe the context as a strategic pre-emptive move ahead of the 2026 mandate, while PYMNTS notes Ember’s existing reach among major banks and fintechs, indicating that the integration could bring substantial scale to Starling’s SME offering.

Bloomberg Law adds a note of caution on the deal’s scale, with sources familiar with the matter indicating the price is under £10 million and highlighting CFO Declan Ferguson’s view of Ember as a natural complement to Starling’s banking products. FinTech Futures also emphasises Ember’s founder-led team and the intention to roll out the integration by the end of 2025, before making Ember’s tools exclusive to Starling’s customers in 2026. FFN News reinforces the same timeline and underlines the strategic aim of embedding digital tax and accounting tools within Starling’s app to help SMEs digitise their finance functions in alignment with the government’s MTD timetable. Taken together, the announcements and reporting sketch a picture of Starling’s aspirational strategy: to turn its SME banking platform into a tightly integrated, end-to-end financial operations hub that covers transactions, invoicing and tax compliance, with a view to meeting upcoming regulatory requirements while expanding its market footprint.

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Source: Noah Wire Services