Monument hires Starling chief to target 'mass affluent'

Fintech Monument Bank has appointed Starling Bank’s head of marketing to lead its brand and marketing teams as it eyes the so-called “mass affluent” market of 8 million households who hold an estimated £9 trillion in wealth.

Rachel Kerrone spent eight years building the Starling brand from early-stage fintech start-up into the UK’s first profitable digital challenger bank. During her tenure, she helped the bank attract more than 4.6 million customers and £12bn in deposits.

Kerrone also led the brand and marketing elements of the launch of Starling’s SME banking proposition, which now has 8% of the UK SME market.

Monument has grown steadily since its launch as a savings bank, with £7bn in savings deposits and over 100,000 customers at the end of 2025. It insists the appointment reflects the bank’s intent to build brand as its product portfolio continues to grow.

In her new role, Kerrone will lead brand, marketing and communications strategy across the bank’s UK operations and planned international expansion.

Her remit includes brand positioning, customer growth, and building the marketing function as Monument scales its product offering.

At Starling, she worked with media agency MG OMD, with creative and branding efforts handled by The Sunshine Company and Wolff Olins, and Coolr on social media.

Monument currently works with Accenture, Mambu, and Salesforce.

Monument Bank chief executive Ian Rand said: “Rachel has done something that very few marketers in financial services manage – built a brand that customers genuinely trust, at scale. We needed someone who has navigated rapid growth before and knows how to build a brand at a pivotal point in our development. Monument is at exactly that moment.”

Kerrone added: “The mass affluent have been banking’s blind spot for too long; too wealthy for the high street, not wealthy enough for private banking. Monument was built to close that gap, and this is the moment to tell that story properly.”