The character arc of Anne Boden
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born in January 1960 in a suburb of Swansea, the daughter of a steelworker and a department store worker. Between then and now sit a childhood spent reading, a degree in chemistry and computer science, a career inside Standard Chartered, ABN AMRO and the Royal Bank of Scotland, an MBA taken in 1990 while working, a job at Allied Irish Banks in 2012 helping it recover from a financial crisis, her own bank founded in June 2014 under a different name, a house in Swansea sold to pay for staff, a co-founder who left in February 2015 to start a rival and took four directors with him, a majority shareholding lost in 2019, and an MBE. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Anne Boden?
Her co-founder left and took the board. She kept the bank.
She was born in a suburb of Swansea, the daughter of a steelworker and a woman who worked in a department store, and reportedly spent much of her childhood reading. She took a degree in chemistry and computer science at Swansea University, which is an unusual pair, and it turned out to be exactly the pair the rest of her working life needed.
Then thirty years inside other people's banks. Standard Chartered, where she took an MBA in 1990 while working. ABN AMRO. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, where she was head of a region and then head of global transaction banking. In 2012 she joined Allied Irish Banks as chief operating officer to help it recover from the 2008 financial crisis, which is the kind of job people take when they want to see how a bank is actually put together.
In June 2014, at fifty four, she founded her own, originally called Possible Financial Services with the tagline Bank Possible. The objective was an entirely online bank that gave customers easier feedback. To fund it and hire staff she sold her house in Swansea, the one she had been spending her weekends in.
In February 2015 her co-founder and chief technology officer left to found a competing bank. The other four directors left with him. The company had no licence yet and she was fifty five. She did not stop. Investment came, from an Austrian-born investor who eventually put seventy five million pounds in for a controlling stake, and in July 2019 she lost her position as majority shareholder as a result of it.
She is the first woman to found a British bank. A newspaper called the company the Amazon of banking. She received an MBE for services to financial technology in 2018, served on a university's board of governors from 2011, and was given an honorary doctorate by it in July 2018.
The moments
Anne Boden's timeline.
The 1960s
Born in Swansea
Everyday. A steelworker, a shop worker, and a child with a book.
The 1980s
Chemistry and computer science
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Two subjects, and the second one turned out to matter most.
The 1990s
An MBA, taken while working
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A masters done in the evenings, with a bank job in the day.
The 2000s
Running a region
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Senior jobs inside very large institutions.
The 2010s
A board of governors
Milestone. Back at the university that gave her the MBA.
Repairing a bank
Milestone, and it changed her direction. The job where you learn how a bank actually works.
She founds her own bank
Milestone, and it changed everything. Fifty four years old, starting a bank from nothing.
She sells her house
Setback, and it changed everything. The house went, so the payroll could be met.
The whole board leaves
Setback, and it changed everything. Five people out of the door in one go, to start a rival.
Wind it up, or carry on alone
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: carry on, taken, or close it. She built the bank anyway, became the first woman to found a British bank, and received an MBE for services to financial technology in 2018.
She carries on
Milestone, and it changed everything. No co-founder, no board, and she kept going.
An MBE
Milestone, and it changed her direction. The first woman ever to found a bank in her country.
She loses control
Setback, and it changed everything. The money that saved it also took the majority of it.
The 2020s
The Amazon of banking
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A description that would have been laughable in 2015.
She sold the house she spent her weekends in so she could pay people, and then most of those people left. What she set moving is the most unglamorous form of persistence there is: carrying on with an unfinished company after everybody who was supposed to build it with you has gone.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
Hers has the entire board walking out in year one, at fifty five. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Anne Boden: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
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What did Anne Boden do before founding a bank?
Why did Anne Boden lose control of Starling?
Where does this timeline of Anne Boden's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with her.
Sources
- Anne Boden, English Wikipedia biography.
- Company records for the June 2014 founding, the February 2015 departures and the investment that cost her the majority shareholding in July 2019.
- Her birth date is published only to the month, so no day is shown here.