Starling's 5% easy-access saver: new-customer rules explained

Starling Bank has introduced a new tier of pricing on its Personal Easy Saver account, offering eligible new customers 5.00% AER (4.87% gross), variable, on balances up to £25,000. The rate took effect at 11:00 on 1 October 2026, according to Starling's product table and secondary reporting.

The offer is aimed squarely at people who do not yet bank with Starling. To get it, a customer has to open a new Starling personal current account and then apply for the Easy Saver within 30 days. Existing Starling customers opening the same account are offered a lower rate instead. Half of the headline 5.00% is also temporary: it is made up of a fixed bonus that lasts six months, sitting on top of a variable underlying rate that can move at any time.

For UK savers comparing easy-access accounts, the detail matters as much as the headline. A 5.00% rate that applies to the first £25,000 for six months is a different proposition from a 5.00% rate that applies indefinitely to a larger sum, and the gap between the two is exactly what this launch turns on.

Who qualifies for the 5.00% rate

Starling's terms, as set out on its product page, restrict the 5.00% AER offer to customers who:

• are UK residents aged 18 or over;
• open a new Starling personal current account; and
• apply for the Personal Easy Saver within 30 days of opening that current account.

Applicants remain subject to Starling's standard eligibility and fraud checks. Separate reporting from DepositScout states that the qualifying current account must have been opened on or after 1 October 2026, and that a customer who closed a Starling current account after 30 September 2026 would not qualify for the new-customer offer. That exclusion does not appear on Starling's own public product page, so readers who think it might apply to them should check the in-app terms directly with Starling rather than rely on this detail alone.

The 5.00% offer applies to the Personal Easy Saver. Starling's page does not show a matching promotional rate for its Joint Easy Saver product.

How the 5.00% rate is built

The 5.00% AER is not a single fixed rate. It is made up of two parts:

1. A fixed bonus of 2.50% AER, which applies for six months starting from the date the Easy Saver is opened.
2. An underlying standard rate of 2.50% AER (2.46% gross), which is variable.

Because the standard-rate component is variable, the overall rate during the six-month bonus period can change if Starling changes the underlying rate, even though the bonus itself is fixed. After six months, the bonus drops away and the account reverts to whatever the underlying variable rate is at that time. AER, or annual equivalent rate, shows what the rate would be if interest were paid and compounded once a year; gross is the contractual rate before any income tax. Starling's page states the new-customer offer as 4.87% gross; a separate roundup from DepositScout reports 4.88% gross for the same offer, so readers should treat Starling's own figure as the primary one.

Starling has not published an end date for the 5.00% promotion. As with any variable-rate product, the bank can change the underlying rate, and the account could be withdrawn or revised, without that being visible to a reader of this article in advance.

Balance limits and how the account works

The 5.00% promotional rate applies only to the portion of a balance up to £25,000. The Easy Saver itself can hold up to £1 million, but any amount above £25,000 earns the underlying 2.50% AER variable rate rather than the promotional rate.

Other terms of the account, per Starling's product page:

• There is no minimum opening deposit.
• Customers can make unlimited additions and withdrawals, with no notice period and no withdrawal penalty.
• Interest is calculated and compounded daily, and paid into the account on the first day of each month.

Withdrawals go to the customer's linked Starling personal current account; the Easy Saver itself does not come with a debit card, Direct Debits or standing orders.

What other applicants receive

Not every applicant gets 5.00%. Starling's comparison table, in force from 11:00 on 1 October 2026, sets a separate rate for applications that fall outside the new-customer promotion, including existing Starling customers opening an Easy Saver.

In both cases the fixed bonus lasts six months and the 2.50% AER standard rate underneath it is variable. This 4.00% figure applies to Easy Savers opened under the pricing that took effect on 1 October 2026; it should not be assumed to apply automatically to every Easy Saver a customer may already hold, since accounts opened earlier may sit under different legacy terms.

Protection if Starling fails

Eligible deposits with Starling are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £120,000 per eligible person, per authorised firm. That limit has applied since 1 December 2025. The protection is per person per firm, not per account, so a customer holding other eligible deposits with Starling — for example in a current account — would have those balances counted towards the same £120,000 limit rather than protected separately.

Where this sits in the market

MoneyWeek described Starling's offer as market-leading at the time of launch. Moneyfacts' own weekly roundup, however, listed both Starling and LemFi at 5.00% AER on 1 October 2026, meaning Starling matched rather than uniquely exceeded the top easy-access headline rate that Moneyfacts was tracking that week. Savings-rate rankings of this kind change frequently and depend on each comparison site's inclusion criteria, balance bands and eligibility rules, so any "best rate" claim is only accurate as of the date it was made.

What to check before applying

This account is a savings product, not advice on which account to choose. Anyone considering it should read Starling's own Easy Saver terms and conditions and the current product page. Once an eligible Easy Saver is opened, the 2.50% AER bonus is fixed for six months, but Starling can still change the underlying variable rate during that period, and can change or withdraw the offer terms for future applicants at any time. In particular, the reported exclusion for customers who closed a Starling account after 30 September 2026, and any closing date for the 5.00% offer itself, are not fully confirmed on Starling's public pages and are worth confirming directly with Starling before opening an account on the expectation of receiving the higher rate.