Starling Bank has announced the launch of two security features designed to protect customers’ banking information from phone snatch theft and shoulder surfing scams.

The digital bank has launched what it describes as the UK's first snatch-theft detector, alongside a new safe locations feature, as it warned that fraud linked to stolen mobile phones typically increases during the summer months.

Starling's snatch-theft detector uses a smartphone's built-in motion sensors to identify when a device has been forcibly taken. If it detects a potential theft, it immediately locks the Starling app, preventing access to account information until the customer authenticates using a passcode or biometric verification.

The bank has also introduced safe locations, which allows customers to specify trusted locations, such as their home, where they can move money from savings or Spaces without additional checks. If they attempt to withdraw funds elsewhere, the app requires biometric authentication, adding another layer of protection against criminals who obtain passcodes through shoulder surfing.

According to Starling, funds lost through account takeover fraud via Faster Payments increased by 64 per cent during June, July and August 2025 compared with the average for the rest of the year. The bank also reported a 21 per cent rise in unauthorised card and Faster Payments reports across the summer months of 2024 and 2025.

The launch follows figures from the Office for National Statistics showing that reported phone thefts rose by almost 16 per cent in the year to 31 March 2025, reaching 272,000 incidents.

Bernadette Smith, chief customer and banking officer at Starling, said that while scams are getting more sophisticated, some bad actors still “resort to the classics” like brazen theft in broad daylight.

“While we can’t stop customers’ phones from getting snatched, we can still keep their money safe with these new scam tools,” she added.

“It’s a pattern we see every year; people head to festivals, go on holiday and generally get outside more in these months. Phone theft surges as a result, as does the rate at which
scammers are able to access people’s cash.”

The new features build on Starling's wider fraud prevention strategy. Last month, the bank launched an enhanced AI-powered Scam Intelligence Agent, developed with romance scam campaigner Cecilie Fjellhøy to help customers identify and escape romance fraud. The initiative received backing from the UK's fraud minister, Lord Hanson.

Starling said both the snatch-theft detector and safe locations features are now available to customers on iOS and Android devices through the app's security settings.

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