Starling Developer Podcast

The software engineering industry is increasingly acknowldging the importance of ethics in technology. How does this apply to Starling Bank? We look at technology ethics from a Starling perspective by discussing managing customer data, AI and machine learning, and treating vulnerable customers fairly. Host Jason Maude chats virtually with Starling engineers Malin Litwinski and Jamie Coombs.

Up till now Starling has deployed its back-end server code as a single entity, even though it is split into multiple different services. As we grow this has become less and less tenable. Why have we been deploying like this so far and how are we changing our deployment process as we expand? Host Jason Maude chats virtually with Starling engineers Saff Soobratty and Matthew Salt.

With COVID-19 confining many of us to our homes we are taking a look at how Starling Bank is coping with this rather unusual situation. How are we continuing to support our customers and each other during this pandemic? Host Jason Maude chats virtually with technical lead for the public APIs team Chris Bowers and web content developer Sarah Deakin.

One of the biggest decisions that you have to make when starting a large software project is which language or languages to write it in. In this episode we discuss what factors you should consider when picking a language and what language decisions Starling has made over the past three and a half years. Host Jason Maude investigates this with Head of Engineering for Apps and APIs Sam Everington and Lead Android Engineer Vasily Siminov.

Open banking and PSD2 have the potential to revolutionise banking. The ability for customers to be able to seamlessly share their financial data in a secure manner between different financial service providers could provide enormous benefits if implemented well. So how is Starling approaching providing these benefits to its customers? Host Jason Maude discusses this with Head of Banking Helen Bierton and Marketplace Engineers Chris Bowers and Josh Cooke.

Starling generally deploys software to production at least once a day during working hours. How do we ensure that this deployment process is easy for engineers and not disruptive for customers? Host Jason Maude finds out about Starling deployment strategies from Starling Site Reliability Engineers Nassos Antoniou and Andrew Cochrane.

In the very first episode of the first series of this podcast we talked about how we ensure that the software architecture that we use at Starling ensures reliability as far as possible. Since then Starling has scaled up from hundreds of customers to over half a million. In this episode we will look at how we have adapted our reliability strategies to deliver at scale. Host Jason Maude finds out how Starling has been developing this area from Starling Scale and Stability Engineers Alex Pardoe and Harry Austin.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that all large software systems will be increasingly made up of legacy code. But is this actually the case? In this episode we explore the concepts of legacy code, adaptable architecture, and agile tech companies, and explain how Starling is aiming to avoid the pitfalls of software landscapes of the past. Host Jason Maude discusses this with Head of Back-Office Engineering Martin Dow and Lead Customer Service Engineer Ricardo Avalos.

In this episode we discuss computerised decision making, from automation of human processes, to machine learning and AI. When do we let machines make decisions on their own and when do we provide human guidance? Host Jason Maude discusses this with Head of Fraud Catherine Walpole, Head of Data Science Harriet Rees, and Lead Credit Engineer Rich Sale.

In this episode we discuss a variety of different topics that we have received requests to talk about on the podcast including the problems with updating the Starling app to handle multiple currencies and how we build and test the UX of new features. With Starling engineers Josh Cooke, Lucas Johnston, Teresa Ng, and your regular host Jason Maude.

What’s the best way to organise an engineering team? In this episode we share how we organise our engineers into teams that enable them to deliver new functionality quickly and also reliably. We’ll discuss how you balance the autonomy that allows engineers to do great work with the oversight needed as we work in a regulated industry. We discuss this with two senior members of the engineering team: Nassos Antoniou and Ricardo Avalos, and your regular host Jason Maude.

One year after we recorded our previous podcast on security we return to the topic of security to see what more we have learned in the past year. We discuss new trends in security as well as some topics that we hadn’t previously discussed such as penetration testing and data security. With head of security testing Andrew Pannell, senior technical advisor Greg Hawkins, and your regular host Jason Maude.

In this episode we present a guide to using the Starling API. We explain how you can connect to the API and the tools that can help you create a great app that connects to your Starling bank account. We also give you some great examples of how the API has been used so far. With Starling API engineers Stephan Blakeslee and Lucas Johnston, and your regular host Jason Maude.

We discuss how Starling manages incidents, such as loss of app functionality caused by a bug or a fault at a third party, in order to get a quick and safe resolution. Communicating with and keeping customers informed during an incident is a key part of this, we talk through our approach. With lead engineer Sam Everington, social media manager Sarah Deakin, and your regular host Jason Maude.

What is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and why was there such a fuss about it at the end of May? We look at what the new regulations mean for how your data is processed, why your inbox was flooded with consent emails, and how Starling handles this as a bank. With Starling General Counsel Matthew Newman, Head of Operational Risk Clare Nestor, CIO John Mountain, and your regular host Jason Maude.

Using our APIs we built Payment Services to allow our clients to benefit from fast and convenient payments. In this episode we look at how we are providing the Payment Services to consumers more widely. We look at how sole traders, companies, and even government departments can benefit from the same systems we have built for our current account. With Starling COO Julian Sawyer, Head of APIs Sam Everington, and your regular host Jason Maude.

In this episode we discuss big data, machine learning, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). How could these new technologies be used in a banking environment? How could they be used not just to benefit the bank, but also to help customers manage their finances? Are these technologies science fiction, or just around the corner? With Starling CTO Greg Hawkins, Product Director Ben Chisell, and your regular host Jason Maude.

In this episode we discuss the how you can have the confidence to change code that is live and in use, even when operating something as sensitive as a bank. How can engineers be empowered to make necessary changes to the code? How can you be sure that failures won’t occur? And is testing important? (spoilers: yes) With Starling Director of Technology Steve Newson, Head of Testing Daniel Webb, and your regular host Jason Maude.

In this episode we discuss company culture. When you’re running a startup bank do you adopt the culture of a bank or the culture of a startup? Can you do both - and if so how do you merge them? How can you maintain a dynamic working culture as you grow, and how does that affect your hiring practices? With Starling Head of People Operations Hessie Coleman, App Developer Teresa Ng, and your regular host Jason Maude.

In this episode we discuss how our banking app has been developed, and what we’ve learnt along the way. We look at the differences between an app designed to be the main portal to your current account and other apps that you might have on your phone. We also finally answer the question: Which is better and what are the differences?’ iOS or Android (or are they about the same)? With iOS Developer Zulfi Khan, Android Developer Teresa Ng, and your regular host Jason Maude.

In this episode we discuss how the design of our current account app has developed since its inception. Where do we draw our inspiration from? What sort of design decisions have we made? How have those decisions been affected by customers using our app? We look at the ins and outs of the mobile app design process with Starling Designer Steven Blyth, Product Director Sarah Guha, App Developer Zulfi Khan, and your regular host Jason Maude.

What happens when a development environment that wants to implement agile and lean practices meets a traditional and conservative sector such as banking? Can you really be agile, or does that just become a buzzword? How does agile development look to the banking regulators? This episode we’re joined by Starling Product Director Sarah Guha (neé Gilbert), Director of Technology Steve Newson, and your regular host Jason Maude.

In episode 5, we chat about the existing UK and global banking framework and how we connect the back-end code to it. Services such as direct debits, the Current Account Switching Service, and Faster Payments will be familiar to UK banking customers, but how do you approach integrating to their APIs? And what are their APIs like anyway (if they even have them)? We also look at connecting to some of the newer consumer financial services, such as Apple Pay with Starling CIO John Mountain and Program Manager Mariam Ogunbambi, hosted by Jason Maude.

How will Starling plan to scale the bank from 1,000 users to 1,000,000 and beyond? We look into the future and ask: what sort of challenges will we face as the bank grows? How are we planning to grow while making sure we continue to offer a good service to existing customers? These questions answered by Starling CTO Greg Hawkins, and developer Nelson Djalo, with your regular host, Jason Maude.

In this episode we discuss the security threats that a cloud-based bank can face. Are they different to the security threats faced by traditional banks, or are the old threats still present? How do we go about tackling these problems in order to make sure that customers’ money is safe? Host Jason Maude is joined by Starling CIO John Mountain and Head of Information Security Simon Waring.

This week’s episode is around the APIs that Starling Bank has made available to the wider world. Why did we decide to open up our banking platform to allow other apps to connect to it? We get into our goals and hopes for our Marketplace for both our customers and partners. Also: what can app developers do via the APIs? And how can they get involved and connect to them? Joined by Starling Chief Platform Officer Megan Caywood and Head of APIs Sam Everington, with your regular host Jason Maude.

To kick off the first Starling Developer Podcast, we talk about how we ensure technical reliability and availability of service to our banking customers. When your bank is based in the cloud how do you make sure that it is always available? How do you reduce down-time? And how do you respond to lack of availability and fail gracefully when there is a problem? All this is covered with Starling CTO Greg Hawkins, Director of Technology Steve Newson, and your regular host Jason Maude.