Starling Bank has upgraded its Spending Insights tool to help people improve their money management skills. Thirty-six new spending categories have been introduced, giving customers instant access to monthly spending data across each category. Starling is also rolling out a search capability that lets customers gain insights on specific categories, vendors and purchases.

The new capabilities have been launched as the nation faces a cost of living crisis. By arming customers with more knowledge on their spending patterns, Starling aims to empower them to make more informed spending decisions that better align with their financial goals.

Personal and joint current account holders will have access to 53 spending categories in total, with many of the 36 new categories requested directly by customers. ‘DIY’ ‘hobby’ and ‘takeaway’ categories are available to those still holding on to habits formed during the Covid lockdown, while those enjoying post-lockdown freedom can categorise spend to their ‘bucket list’, ‘relationship’ date nights and ‘weddings’.

Other categories have been added for essential spending, including ‘rent’, ‘medical’ and ‘groceries’, with customers given the ability to tag which categories and specific purchases are essential and non-essential. Customers can also personalise their spending categories on the Starling app. A new category can be applied to a single transaction, or to all past or future transactions from a particular merchant. For example, all payments for a morning coffee could be switched from ‘eating out’ to ‘coffee’, or payments to a local petrol station can be changed from ‘transport’ to ‘fuel’.

Helen Bierton, Chief Banking Officer at Starling Bank said: “Our customers have loved Starling’s Spending Insights since we launched in 2017. Knowledge is power when it comes to meeting your financial goals and we hope that by offering customers even more insight into their spending patterns, they’ll have more control of their personal and household budgets in order to adapt a little easier to the cost of living crisis.”

The 36 new spending categories are already available on the Starling app while the new search capability is being rolled out today and requires the latest version of the app. More information on Starling’s new Spending Insights capabilities can be found on the Starling blog.