Soldo Links Into Faster Payments Via Starling API

Expense management firm Soldo is accelerating the pace at which companies can send money and receive payment via an API integration with Starling Bank.

The companies announced news on Tuesday (Feb. 20) that Soldo is looking to provide real-time management and control of corporate expenses. Integrating with the challenger bank gives Soldo its own sort code and account number, the firms explained, further automating the movement of company cash.

Soldo added that collaborating with Starling Bank will also lead to new features in its expense management solution, which currently includes business spending accounts, prepaid cards, software and mobile capabilities.

“Over the last four years, Soldo has invested to create a full-stack, regulated, scalable and secure spending platform with control at its core,” said Soldo Founder and CEO Carlo Gualandri in a statement. “We remain determined to be at the cutting-edge of the payments infrastructure, and our integration with Starling Bank demonstrates the value of joining centers of excellence within the FinTech sector. Businesses using Soldo can now invest even more time making strategic decisions instead of wasting time on manual cash flow management.”

“Soldo had already achieved an incredible feat by innovating the way in which businesses can efficiently manage their cash flow, and with the integration of our payments technology, they have raised their value proposition to another level,” Starling Bank COO Julian Sawyer said. “Starling Bank was the first challenger bank to join the U.K.’s Faster Payments Scheme directly providing real-time access via APIs.”

Late last year, Starling revealed plans to develop a business banking solution to augment its existing offering in consumer financial services. Key to that development, the bank said at the time, was to accelerate the time it takes businesses to open up an account.

“It will be very easy to get up and running, taking five minutes or less,” said founder and Chief Executive Anne Boden at the time. “At the moment, opening a business account can take many hours at a branch. Business owners are far too busy for that.”