Starling Bank hires new chief banking officer from NatWest Group
UK challenger Starling Bank has hired NatWest Group managing director Raghu Narula as its new chief banking officer (CBO). He is set to assume the role next month, pending regulatory approval.

Raghu Narula joins Starling as chief banking officer (Image: LinkedIn)
In the role, Narula will take charge of “driving customer and commercial growth as well as innovation across all the bank’s customer segments”, according to the bank’s statement.
Narula’s leadership will span both Starling’s retail and business units, and will focus on “the development and launch of new products, customer propositions and go-to-market strategies”, the statement continues.
The incoming CBO moves directly from NatWest Group, where he has been serving as managing director of customer engagement and distribution since 2022.
Before his time at NatWest, Narula spent 23 years at HSBC, and boasts retail, wealth management and commercial banking experience across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
He will join an expanding executive committee at Starling, which welcomed Adeel Hyder as managing director of SME banking and Michele Rousseau as chief marketing officer in November, following the appointment of CEO Raman Bhatia in June.
Starling notably hit its third year of profitability for the year ending 31 March 2024, with a 50.6% increase in revenue to £682.2 million.