3 ms·

heya! i'm casually interested in the space, and also have been tracking Column (https://column.com/ https://column.com/) to a distant observer, you look simila

by swyx 4y ago

heya! i'm casually interested in the space, and also have been tracking Column (https://column.com/ https://column.com/) to a distant observer, you look similar, but i'm sure there are real differences between you, so I'd love something like a "top 3 things to note" about Increase vs Column, in a least-getting-you-in-trouble way as possible - its hard to compare because i dont know what I don't know.

pbreit 4y ago
For one, Column is a bank.
- vinay_ys 4y ago
  This is super important – if you are a chartered/regulated bank that's functioning currently then whatever you claim has merit. Otherwise it is just another software project that's going to struggle to get adoption because they won't have thought through all the regulatory and compliance issues.
  - shaburn 4y ago
    And can easily violate myriads of laws that can quickly land you long prison sentences.
darraghbuckley 4y ago
Yes! We're obviously not the first to see the need! I think there are many engineers who are frustrated knowing the data and capabilities that exist in banking that aren't exposed programmatically. There are at least four (and I'm undoubtedly missing many!) interesting companies aiming to combine technology and a bank charter: - Luna[0]. - M1 Finance[1]. - Column[2]. - Increase[3]. Building a bank involves reading, understanding, and respecting regulation. It invovles integrating with large financial networks. It involves rallying a team for a years-long adventure. Each of these is early days and it'll be a few years before any of us understands how this super large and important problem will be solved. 0. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/former-square-exec-leads-acquisition-of-community-bank https://www.americanbanker.com/news/former-square-exec-leads... 1. https://m1.com/blog/bank-and-board https://m1.com/blog/bank-and-board 2. https://column.com/ https://column.com/ 3. https://increase.com/ https://increase.com/
- wmf 4y ago
  If Increase has a bank charter why does the site say "Bank accounts and banking services are provided by Increase’s partner banks"?
cyclotron3k 4y ago
Teller (https://teller.io/ https://teller.io/) is another one I noticed a few years ago. Seems very similar.
- scrollaway 4y ago
  No, Teller is more of a competitor to Plaid (https://plaid.com/ https://plaid.com/). Plaid offers an API to perform a variety of actions with existing banks, and charges through the wazoo for it as a middleware. Column is an actual bank, and offers exhaustive developer-first APIs. I suspect you can do a lot of things with them you cannot do with Plaid, and at highly reduced cost comparatively. Increase doesn't seem to be a bank but is a much lower-level API than Plaid and allows things like opening accounts, FWICT. BTW, bunq (https://www.bunq.com/ https://www.bunq.com/) is a cool nl-based bank which offers an incredibly in-depth API. But I would not call it dev-centric, the DX is awful.
  - cyclotron3k 4y ago
    Sorry, yes, I was trying to say Teller is similar to Increase, not Column.

by swyx 4y ago

pbreit 4y ago

For one, Column is a bank.

vinay_ys 4y ago
This is super important – if you are a chartered/regulated bank that's functioning currently then whatever you claim has merit. Otherwise it is just another software project that's going to struggle to get adoption because they won't have thought through all the regulatory and compliance issues.
- shaburn 4y ago
  And can easily violate myriads of laws that can quickly land you long prison sentences.

darraghbuckley 4y ago

Yes! We're obviously not the first to see the need! I think there are many engineers who are frustrated knowing the data and capabilities that exist in banking that aren't exposed programmatically. There are at least four (and I'm undoubtedly missing many!) interesting companies aiming to combine technology and a bank charter: - Luna[0]. - M1 Finance[1]. - Column[2]. - Increase[3]. Building a bank involves reading, understanding, and respecting regulation. It invovles integrating with large financial networks. It involves rallying a team for a years-long adventure. Each of these is early days and it'll be a few years before any of us understands how this super large and important problem will be solved. 0. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/former-square-exec-leads-acquisition-of-community-bank https://www.americanbanker.com/news/former-square-exec-leads... 1. https://m1.com/blog/bank-and-board https://m1.com/blog/bank-and-board 2. https://column.com/ https://column.com/ 3. https://increase.com/ https://increase.com/

wmf 4y ago
If Increase has a bank charter why does the site say "Bank accounts and banking services are provided by Increase’s partner banks"?

cyclotron3k 4y ago

Teller (https://teller.io/ https://teller.io/) is another one I noticed a few years ago. Seems very similar.

scrollaway 4y ago
No, Teller is more of a competitor to Plaid (https://plaid.com/ https://plaid.com/). Plaid offers an API to perform a variety of actions with existing banks, and charges through the wazoo for it as a middleware. Column is an actual bank, and offers exhaustive developer-first APIs. I suspect you can do a lot of things with them you cannot do with Plaid, and at highly reduced cost comparatively. Increase doesn't seem to be a bank but is a much lower-level API than Plaid and allows things like opening accounts, FWICT. BTW, bunq (https://www.bunq.com/ https://www.bunq.com/) is a cool nl-based bank which offers an incredibly in-depth API. But I would not call it dev-centric, the DX is awful.
- cyclotron3k 4y ago
  Sorry, yes, I was trying to say Teller is similar to Increase, not Column.