London: Starling, the leading digital bank, is launching Client Money Accounts to provide more secure, efficient and compliant account management for professional practices that hold money on behalf of clients.

The accounts, delivered under the Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS) framework by Starling's Banking Services unit, are suitable for regulated firms such as investment management platforms, solicitors, law firms, investment managers, accountancy practices, property letting agencies and estate agents.

Starling's new Client Money Accounts enable customers to meet all regulatory requirements, while at the same time giving them instant access to funds online, real-time balance updates and a full electronic audit trail. Starling clients will be able to manage multiple customer accounts with ease, simplifying reporting and the import and export of data.

Starling is the first challenger bank to be a direct member of the Faster Payments Scheme and the only provider of real-time access to Faster Payments through APIs.

Building on the real-time access to the Faster Payments Scheme (FPS), Starling has been working to create an API-led framework that allows regulated businesses the ability to fulfil their obligations under the Financial Conduct Authority’s CASS 7 rules.

Goji, the investment manager and platform focused on Direct Lending, will be the first company to utilise Client Money Accounts by Starling Banking Services, providing their customers with a seamless ISA-compliant CASS solution that is run over Faster Payments.

Starling’s Client Money Accounts are now available along with access to real-time faster payments for all businesses that are required to abide by the CASS 7 rules.

Julian Sawyer, Head of Banking Services at Starling Bank, said: “We’ve built Starling Banking Services to provide both payments and accounts infrastructure for financial institutions and corporates. As part of our ongoing commitments to develop a true Banking Services platform, we’ve launched Client Money Accounts with our first client, Goji Investment.”

Jake Wombwell-Povey, Chief Executive of Goji, said: “When looking for a partner to help us protect our customers’ finances, we needed someone who could help us move at speed, but also someone who had a robust technology platform that gave us the confidence to build our business with. As soon as we engaged with Starling Bank we knew we’d found our partner.”