Starling Bank has agreed to buy Ember, a London fintech that provides tax and bookkeeping software for small businesses, in its first acquisition in four years. Ember’s HMRC‑recognised tools will be integrated into Starling’s app by late 2025 and become exclusive to Starling customers from 2026, positioning the bank to help around 780,000 sole traders and landlords comply with upcoming Making Tax Digital rules.
Starling Bank has completed its first acquisition in four years, snapping up Ember, the London fintech behind a tax and bookkeeping platform that SME owners use to manage finance and tax submissions. Ember’s software will be embedded in Starling’s app and online banking, with the integration targeted for completion by the end of 2025 and Ember’s tools set to become exclusive to Starling customers from 2026. The deal arrives as HMRC’s Making Tax Digital initiative begins to reshape how small businesses report tax, with an estimated 780,000 sole traders and landlords affected when quarterly updates become mandatory from 2026. The company said the integration will help those affected bring their reporting into compliance more easily, while Ember’s existing accountancy advisory services will be discontinued as part of the transition. The transaction is still subject to customary closing conditions.
The arrangement places Starling in a position as a consolidator in the fintech space, expanding its business banking toolkit as it readies for new digital tax rules. Starling’s chief financial officer, Declan Ferguson, described the acquisition as a “natural fintech consolidator” move and said targeted acquisitions like Ember will form a key part of the group’s growth strategy as it develops Starling Bank in the UK and Engine by Starling overseas. Ember’s co-founders, Daniel Hogan and Aaron Shaw, framed the move as a milestone in delivering seamless banking and accounting for small businesses. They said Ember was built to reduce the pain of accounting and to empower faster, clearer financial decisions, noting that Making Tax Digital has created a real call to action for SMEs and that the Ember-Starling deal sets a new standard for integrated banking and accounting. Ember already works with several large banks and payments firms, including HSBC, Revolut, Barclays and Lloyds, but the software will become exclusive to Starling from 2026. Industry observers have noted the deal’s potential to position Starling to capitalise on digital tax compliance ahead of the 2026 deadline. The undisclosed deal size has been broadly reported as under £10 million, underscoring Starling’s focus on strategic, efficiency-enhancing acquisitions rather than large-scale bolt-ons. The transaction’s closing remains subject to standard conditions.
Looking ahead, Starling’s timeline for Ember’s integration mirrors industry expectations that SME banking will increasingly blend with tax and accounting tools. Ember’s platform, already used by the major banks and lenders in its client roster, is expected to be fully integrated into Starling’s ecosystem by late 2025, enabling business customers to manage banking, invoicing, and tax submissions from a single interface. The move is being framed as a forward step for Starling’s SME strategy, and is seen as a measured bet on the UK’s evolving tax-compliance environment. By tying Ember’s HMRC-recognised software to its own banking platform, Starling aims to offer a more complete toolkit for small businesses—a strategy similar to what Fleet Mortgages achieved for Starling in 2021, when the group expanded its non-banking asset with a significant acquisition.
Reference Panel
– Paragraph 1 sources: Ember becomes Starling Bank’s first acquisition in four years (BusinessCloud); Starling Acquires Ember to Add Digital Tax and Accounting Tools for Small Business Customers (PyMNTS)
– Paragraph 2 sources: Ember becomes Starling Bank’s first acquisition in four years (BusinessCloud); Starling agrees to buy Ember (FinTech Futures); Starling Agrees to Buy Ember to Add Digital Tax and Accounting Tools for Small Business Customers (FFNews)
– Paragraph 3 sources: Starling to Acquire Ember (FinTech Futures); Ember becomes Starling Bank’s first acquisition in four years (BusinessCloud)
Reference Map:
Source Panel (for reference)
– Ember becomes Starling Bank’s first acquisition in four years — BusinessCloud (Aug 20, 2025)
– Starling Agrees to Buy Ember to Add Digital Tax and Accounting Tools for Small Business Customers — FFNews
– Starling agrees to buy Ember — FinTech Futures
– Starling Acquires Ember to Help Businesses Digitize Tax Filing — PYMNTS
– Starling Agrees to Buy Ember to Add Digital Tax and Accounting Tools for Small Business Customers — FFNews
– Starling to Acquire Ember — International Accounting Bulletin
– Starling Acquires Ember to Help Businesses Digitize Tax Filing — PYMNTS
Notes: This enhanced narrative preserves the lead’s focus on Starling’s acquisition of Ember while weaving in contextual background and forward-looking details drawn from the related summaries. It maintains editorial distance from company claims, attributes data and quotes to the original sources, and presents a concise view of the latest developments as of August 2025.
Source: Noah Wire Services
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
7
Notes:
🕰️ Freshness: The narrative first appeared publicly on 19 August 2025 via Starling Group’s own news release and was picked up by industry outlets the same day (earliest broad coverage identified: PYMNTS, 19 Aug 2025). ([starlingbank.com](https://www.starlingbank.com/news/starling-agrees-to-buy-ember?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [pymnts.com](https://www.pymnts.com/acquisitions/2025/starling-acquires-ember-to-help-businesses-digitize-tax-filing/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) ✅ Many outlets republished the company release with minimal added reporting (e.g. BusinessCloud, FinTech Futures). ([businesscloud.co.uk](https://businesscloud.co.uk/news/ember-is-starling-banks-first-acquisition-in-four-years/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [fintechfutures.com](https://www.fintechfutures.com/m-a/starling-to-acquire-ember?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) ⚠️ Because the story originates in a corporate news release, the timeline is recent but PR‑driven — this boosts apparent ‘freshness’ of publication but means independent reporting is limited. No substantially similar narrative was found more than 7 days earlier. ([starlingbank.com](https://www.starlingbank.com/news/starling-agrees-to-buy-ember?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Quotes check
Score:
3
Notes:
⚠️ Most direct quotes (Declan Ferguson; Ember co‑founders Daniel Hogan and Aaron Shaw) appear verbatim in the Starling Group news release and were reproduced across subsequent coverage — earliest source is the company release (19 Aug 2025). ([starlingbank.com](https://www.starlingbank.com/news/starling-agrees-to-buy-ember?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [pymnts.com](https://www.pymnts.com/acquisitions/2025/starling-acquires-ember-to-help-businesses-digitize-tax-filing/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) ‼️ Identical phrasing in multiple follow‑ups suggests the quotes are PR statements rather than journalist‑generated interview material; treat them as company messaging rather than independent attribution. ([businesscloud.co.uk](https://businesscloud.co.uk/news/ember-is-starling-banks-first-acquisition-in-four-years/?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Source reliability
Score:
7
Notes:
✅ Strength: The narrative is anchored to an identifiable corporate announcement from Starling Group (official Starling news page). ([starlingbank.com](https://www.starlingbank.com/news/starling-agrees-to-buy-ember?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) ✅ Corroboration: reputable trade and business outlets (PYMNTS, FinTech Futures, International Accounting Bulletin, Bloomberg Law) have carried the story. ([pymnts.com](https://www.pymnts.com/acquisitions/2025/starling-acquires-ember-to-help-businesses-digitize-tax-filing/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [fintechfutures.com](https://www.fintechfutures.com/m-a/starling-to-acquire-ember?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [internationalaccountingbulletin.com](https://www.internationalaccountingbulletin.com/news/starling-agrees-to-acquire-ember/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [news.bloomberglaw.com](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/starling-bank-buys-accounting-startup-to-offer-tax-tools-to-smes?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) ⚠️ Caution: the primary origin is a company press release (self‑reporting). Several outlets appear to have republished or paraphrased that release with little independent verification — flag as a PR‑led narrative. ‼️ ✅ Ember is a verifiable company with an active website and prior funding/partnership coverage (Ember site and prior Tech.eu/Tech press). ([ember.co](https://ember.co/about?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [tech.eu](https://tech.eu/2024/05/17/embedded-accounting-start/?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Plausability check
Score:
8
Notes:
✅ Plausible claims: the timeline for HMRC’s Making Tax Digital and the estimated figure of ~780,000 affected sole traders/landlords come from HMRC/GOV.UK material (published April 2025) and align with the stated integration timetable. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/one-year-until-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-launches?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) ✅ The integration target (end of 2025) and exclusivity from 2026 are stated in Starling’s announcement — plausible as a commercial decision but rely on post‑deal product/integration plans. ([starlingbank.com](https://www.starlingbank.com/news/starling-agrees-to-buy-ember?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) ⚠️ Deal size: officially ‘undisclosed’ in the press release; Bloomberg and some outlets report it was under £10m citing unnamed sources — that is plausible but not confirmed by Starling/Ember. Flag as partially unverified. ([news.bloomberglaw.com](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/starling-bank-buys-accounting-startup-to-offer-tax-tools-to-smes?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) ⚠️ Other flags: the announcement notes Ember’s existing partnerships with big banks will end or become non‑exclusive only from 2026 — this is a contractual claim that should be watched for later confirmation from those partner firms. ([starlingbank.com](https://www.starlingbank.com/news/starling-agrees-to-buy-ember?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): HIGH
Summary:
✅ Verdict: PASS — the reported transaction is corroborated by an official Starling Group news release (19 Aug 2025) and rapidly reproduced by multiple reputable outlets (PYMNTS, FinTech Futures, BusinessCloud, Bloomberg). ([starlingbank.com](https://www.starlingbank.com/news/starling-agrees-to-buy-ember?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [pymnts.com](https://www.pymnts.com/acquisitions/2025/starling-acquires-ember-to-help-businesses-digitize-tax-filing/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [businesscloud.co.uk](https://businesscloud.co.uk/news/ember-is-starling-banks-first-acquisition-in-four-years/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [news.bloomberglaw.com](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/starling-bank-buys-accounting-startup-to-offer-tax-tools-to-smes?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) 🟨 Major caveats: the narrative is PR‑led (the company issued the release), most direct quotes derive from that release, and the purchase price remains officially undisclosed (Bloomberg reports <£10m on anonymous sources). Treat company statements and quoted material as corporate messaging rather than independent reportage. ([starlingbank.com](https://www.starlingbank.com/news/starling-agrees-to-buy-ember?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [news.bloomberglaw.com](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/starling-bank-buys-accounting-startup-to-offer-tax-tools-to-smes?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) ⚠️ Additional risk indicators: reliance on PR copy across outlets (republication), and claims about future exclusivity or the discontinuation of Ember’s advisory services are contractual/commercial details that may evolve and should be checked against later filings, partner statements or regulatory notices. ✅ Strength: the HMRC context and the estimated ~780,000 affected taxpayers cited in the narrative are supported by GOV.UK/HMRC publications. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/one-year-until-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-launches?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) Overall: story is credible and factually anchored but largely driven by a company announcement — flag for editors that further independent reporting (e.g. confirmation of deal value, comments from Ember’s named partners, or post‑closing filings) would strengthen the record. ‼️
