The digital lender Starling is to sponsor Britain's Olympic teams, marking a new phase in its efforts to become one of the country's most recognisable banking brands.

Sky News has learnt that Starling, which counts a former Team GB archer among its senior executives, has struck a deal to become the British Olympic Association's banking partner for the Tokyo Olympics later this year.

The alliance comes amid speculation about the possible postponement of this summer's Games following the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Japan's Olympics minister suggested this week that a delay was an option for the organising committee, although the International Olympic Committee responded by saying that it was "very confident" that they would take place as planned.

Starling's association with Team GB, which recorded its biggest overseas medal haul at the Rio Olympics in 2016, will provide a platform for the banking app to boost its profile.


Founded in 2014 by banking veteran Anne Boden, the company has raised hundreds of millions of pounds from blue-chip investors to fuel its growth.

Starling now employs roughly 800 people, and has amassed a customer base of 1.3 million people - the vast majority of whom are consumers.

As part of its association with Team GB, Starling plans to offer each athlete an account with £100 in credit.

The bank's chief banking officer, Helen Bierton, represented Team GB in archery at the Athens Games in 2004.

In response to an enquiry from Sky News, Ms Boden said: "We feel extremely privileged to be the official Bank of Team GB and will be sharing our excitement with customers in a number of creative ways over the next few months, which we hope will add to the feeling of community that the Olympic Games inspires."

The BOA did not have a banking partner in Rio, with its previous sponsor from the sector dating back to London 2012, when Lloyds Banking Group was Team GB's partner.

Other existing backers of the BOA include British Airways, the furniture retailer DFS, accountancy firm Deloitte and Purplebricks, the online estate agent.

Starling's effort to build its brand comes weeks after it raised a further £60m funding round from investors led by Merian Chysalis.

Its rival digital banks are also raising funds, the largest example of which has been Revolut's $500m investment led by Technology Crossover Ventures, an early backer of Netflix and Spotify.

Others, including Monzo, are also in the process of raising money at lofty valuations.