# Increase **Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/increase **Vertical:** Finance **Subcategory:** General **Tier:** Emerging **Website:** increase.com **Last Updated:** 2026-04-14 ## Summary Banking infrastructure APIs with direct Federal Reserve and Visa connections for fintechs and neobanks; YC-backed offering ACH, RTP, and card issuance competing with Column and Unit in post-Synapse BaaS market. ## Company Overview Increase is a San Francisco-based banking infrastructure company providing direct-access banking APIs to technology companies — enabling fintechs, neobanks, payroll platforms, and embedded finance products to programmatically send and receive money through direct connections to the Federal Reserve (for same-day ACH and RTP), Visa (for card issuance), and other financial networks, without the intermediary bank complexity that most BaaS (Banking-as-a-Service) providers require. Founded in 2020 and a Y Combinator graduate, Increase serves technology companies across bill pay, payroll, digital wallets, embedded lending, and sponsor banking use cases. Increase's architecture differs from traditional BaaS platforms: rather than a middleware layer sitting between the customer and a sponsor bank, Increase operates as a technology company with direct programmatic access to financial network rails. This means lower latency, more transparent transaction status, and cleaner API abstractions for developers building financial products. The platform covers ACH (standard 1-3 day and same-day), wire transfers, real-time payments (RTP network, 24/7/365 settlement), check creation and deposit, and Visa debit card issuance with program management. In 2025, Increase competes in the banking API and BaaS infrastructure market with Synapse (filed for bankruptcy in 2024, creating market disruption), Column (direct bank with API access), Unit (BaaS platform), and Treasury Prime for embedded banking and payment infrastructure. The BaaS market experienced significant turbulence in 2024 — Synapse's collapse disrupted thousands of fintech customers and highlighted risks of intermediary BaaS models where customer funds sit at sponsor banks the BaaS platform controls. Increase's direct infrastructure model avoids the Synapse-type custody risk. The 2025 strategy focuses on growing with the fintech companies that need reliable, direct-access banking infrastructure, expanding the product coverage (real-time payments, international wires), and building the compliance infrastructure that enterprise customers require for regulated financial operations. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Increase? Increase is a San Francisco-based company that provides enterprise-grade banking APIs enabling technology companies to programmatically store, move, and reconcile money. The company offers direct connections to the Federal Reserve, Visa, and other financial networks. ### What products and services does Increase offer? Increase offers banking APIs, instant bank account opening, ACH payments, wire transfers, real-time payments, physical check issuance, and custom card issuance with real-time authorization controls. Their platform provides modern banking infrastructure for technology companies. ### Who are Increase's target customers? Increase serves technology companies across various sectors including bill pay, payroll, wallets, embedded lending, fund administration, and sponsor banking. The company partners with financial technology platforms like Modern Treasury. ### When was Increase founded? Increase was founded in 2020 by Darragh Buckley. ### Where is Increase located? Increase is based in San Francisco, California. ### What is Increase's funding background? Increase is backed by Y Combinator, having participated in their W20 (Winter 2020) batch. ### How many employees does Increase have? Increase has 15 employees. ### What makes Increase's technology approach unique? Increase provides direct connections to the Federal Reserve, Visa, and other financial networks, offering enterprise-grade banking infrastructure. Their platform includes real-time authorization controls and enables programmatic money management through modern APIs. ### Who founded Increase? Increase was founded by Darragh Buckley in 2020. ### What notable partnerships does Increase have? Increase partners with Modern Treasury and other financial technology platforms. The company maintains direct connections to the Federal Reserve and Visa networks. ## Tags b2b, fintech, api-first, infrastructure, startup, north-america --- *Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*