straddle
The all-in-one platform for building better bank payments - with open banking, identity verification, and account-to-account money movement in a single API
intro 👋
The digital economy needs a secure, interoperable technology layer to power account-to-account (”A2A”) payments
Businesses and developers should be able to build modern bank payment experiences on a single platform that just works. But there’s never been a “Visa” for account-to-account payments.
overview 📖
Today’s world depends on instant connectivity, yet moving money between bank accounts still works like it was built in the 70s (it was!)
Legacy bank payment rails like ACH are slow, inconvenient, and lack the security mechanisms needed for truly scalable digital payments.
And yet, even with the significant shortcomings of legacy account-to-account rails, the total count of 2022's ACH payment activity translate to approximately 90 payments per American, with the only continuing to accelerate.
While ACH payments experience an unexpected renaissance, metrics across instant payment rails like (RTP) and are also flashing indicators for the latent demand for better bank payments.
True adoption of faster payments has barely started; with only a few dozen banks participating nationwide. There are still serious concerns surrounding that need to be addressed before “instant payments” begin to approach maturity.
These staggering growth trends in account-to-account payments have been fueled by the rapidly maturing open banking ecosystem in the United States.
Open banking brings the first fast and secure way for users to access their cash accounts since the debit card 🤯
The impressive A2A adoption metrics have been established despite significant headwinds:
The opportunity remains for a unified money movement platform tailored to the needs of today's digital economy.
Trends in noncash payments, by value, 2000–21
The increase in the value of ACH transfers accounted for more than 90 percent of the rise in noncash payments value from 2018 to 2021.
thesis 🧠
We believe that the future of money movement is instant, programmable, and multi-rail. And no single solution will dominate the way cards have over the last 30+ years.
For a A2A payment rails to truly scale, here’s what needs to happen:
Speed, Data, and Cost
Connectivity
Interoperability
Compliant by Default
Security
Value, Not Complexity
There are no rows in this table
product 🍰
Straddle is a building the payments infrastructure required to power the next generation of companies and software – all built on modern payment rails.
pay by bank
embed
Straddle Embed is a platform that, like , enables deeply integrated payment infrastructure for platforms, marketplaces, and other PSP/PayFac providers. Embed simplifies the process of integrating bank payments and managing complex money movement scenarios within an app or service.
This is a key part of our scaling and distribution strategy and where we’ve seen significant early traction. You should
customer profiles 💃
Unlike some market participants who are focusing on “Pay by Bank” products in an attempt to shift consumer behavior in e-commerce checkout experiences, Straddle strategically positions itself in verticals where bank payments are already an integral part of the transaction process.
Straddle customers already need better bank payments. They don’t need to convince their users to change behavior so they can save 2% on processing fees.
Real-time + open-banking rails reaching maturity will be the catalyst for an eventual shift in consumer behavior at checkout - and we’ll be ready - but there’s a huge market ready to be disrupted today
Enterprise payments are commoditized, not competitive
The ideal customer profile for Straddle are early to scale startups or mid-market growth businesses with <$100mm GTV. These customers also will value developer experience, time to market, clear & simple pricing, and efficient resource allocation afforded by the unified Straddle API.
verticals
“SMBs are expected to spend more than $100 billion on payments services by 2025 - an opportunity that merchant acquirers must address quickly, given the intensifying competitive pressures in the market.”
embed “customers”
Embed is designed around a partner-centric model, focusing on creating strategic alliances with SaaS platforms and PayFacs/PSP. This approach is pivotal for scaling distribution to a broader range of SMB and “Main Street” businesses that use these platforms or process credit card transactions through vertical SaaS, marketplaces, or PayFacs
Key Aspects of the Partner-Centric Model:
This partner-centric approach is a cornerstone of Straddle Embed’s strategy, focusing on building strong partnerships that facilitate extended market reach and enable efficient distribution of its payment solutions to a wide range of businesses.
why we win
open-banking superiority
single connectivity providers can’t match our aggregated Bridge coverage internally or afford to commoditize their core data product in pursuit of payments activity. With the formalization of open-banking regs in the US (1033) data access will become commoditized but next-gen money movement will endure.
“bring your own token”
support for 3rd party tokens in the Straddle API turns extends our product reach to support better bank payments from existing Mastercard (Finicity), MX, Flinks, and even Plaid into Straddle payments volume
The Straddle API also supports “raw” routing/account numbers, without the need for onerous micro-deposits
full-stack, single focus
a singular focus on better bank payments informs product development. this enables superior developer experiences and disruptive pricing models via wedge products
distribution
combines massively scalable onboarding and unmatched monetization opportunity with to create a zero-liability transaction layer for SaaS, marketplaces, and PSP.
we know bank payments
the unique onboarding + zero-liability distribution model is only made possible by carefully crafted policy and sponsor bank relationships. seriously, we are the best in the business here.
market timing ⏰
what the faq ⁉️
Why build an identity-to-payment platform?
Linking together identity verification, open banking, fraud detection, and multi-rail bank payments in one platform is a big deal for a few key reasons:
By combining and connecting these complex pieces of infrastructure, Straddle has created a unique offering that solves major pain points around legacy payments.
Debit and credit cards have a key advantage in linking identity verification to the payment instrument through the account opening process with the issuing bank. This inherent connection between identity and payment method is often overlooked.
Straddle replicates this linkage in an even more secure way by:
This enables Straddle to provide the speed and security of card payments, while using bank account rails to avoid costly interchange fees.
At it’s core, Straddle is replicating what makes card payments work so well - the linkage of identity and authentication to the payment instrument. But we do so in a more secure server-to-server environment and cost-effective account-based rails. The fact that no other bank payment method replicates this innate identity linkage is a key insight.
The irrevocable nature of instant payments requires much stronger identity proofing and transaction validation upfront. The lag time to reverse fraudulent transactions will be seconds rather than days.
By leveraging leading identity verification and connecting directly to bank accounts for authenticated access, Straddle is future-proofing our solution for the coming wave of real-time payments.
Having a validated identity tied to each bank account will likely become table stakes for using instant payment rails securely. Straddle's identity-first approach directly addresses this need in a way few other payment providers can match.
cool ideas 🕶️
straddle
Denver, CO
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