UK-based digital banking Starling , backed by Goldman Sachs with a GBP 50 million investment, has withdrawn its application to obtain a European banking license from the Irish central bank. Starling’s application had faced problems in the past, with the digital lender temporarily pushing back talks with regulators in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bank first initiated the process to become regulated in the EU in 2018 but motivated its latest decision as it wants to focus on selling its SaaS product and expanding into new areas of lending. Starling is one of the largest online banks in the UK, counting for over 3 million clients, of which half a million businesses. The privately-owned firm was valued at GBP 2.

5 billion in April 2022 and claims it still intends to pursue its expansion into the European fintech and online banking field through software deals with other lenders, rather than its own retail bank brand.