Starling Bank has appointed Raghu Narula as chief banking officer to strengthen its leadership and banking capabilities.

Narula joins the firm in February 2025 from the NatWest Group where he worked for two years as managing director, customer engagement and distribution.

Prior to NatWest, Narula had worked at HSBC since 1999 in a variety of roles, helping to build and grow businesses in various stages of development from initial launch to large-scale transformation.

In his new role, Narula will be responsible for driving customer and commercial growth as well as innovation across all the bank’s customer segments, focusing on the development and launch of new products, customer propositions, and go-to-market strategies.

“Raghu’s vast knowledge across retail, wealth management, and commercial banking, coupled with his deep understanding of digital transformation in financial services, make him an ideal fit for Starling,” said Raman Bhatia, chief executive at Starling Group. “He understands how technology will continue to change the way we bank, and how to lead teams to deliver exceptional results.”

In November last year, Starling appointed Adeel Hyder as managing director of SME Banking.
Hyder joined the bank from TSB, where he executed the bank’s SME strategy as business banking director.

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