Column vs Unit
Column
column.comUnit
unit.coSide by side
| Figure | Column | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 1 |
| Spec score · Banking-as-a-Service Platforms | 7.7 (#12) | 7.6 (#17) |
| Founded | 2019 | 2019 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, United States | New York City and Tel Aviv |
| Integrations | Column says its card issuing connects to Visa and Mastercard and supports mobile wallets including Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Garmin Pay. | Listed integrations include Plaid, Yodlee, TabaPay, Stytch, Rainforest, Intuit, AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, Auth0, and Allpoint. |
| Support | Column’s developer documentation lists [email protected] for feedback and [email protected] for technical support. | Unit directs customers seeking security policies, reports, or documents to contact [email protected]. |
| What it does | Column provides banking infrastructure and APIs for companies building financial products, including payment processing and lending platforms. | Unit is an enterprise-grade financial infrastructure platform for offering financial services to customers. |
| Who it is for | Column describes its intended customers as technology companies, U.S. banks, international banks, and real estate businesses building financial products. | Unit's customers include software companies serving small businesses, independent workers and consumers with embedded financial products. |
Plans
In their own words
Column
Column is a nationally chartered bank providing banking infrastructure and APIs for companies building financial products. Its payment connections include the Federal Reserve, The Clearing House, SWIFT and card networks, for moving money in the United States and globally. APIs support checking, savings, trust, subledger, clearing and sweep accounts, including multiple account numbers for a single account. Column says its programmatically created bank accounts are FDIC-insured.
Companies can launch debit, credit, unsecured, charge or secured card programs, using their own balance sheet or Column’s. Lending offerings include credit origination, warehouse and forward flow facilities, with dedicated funding for lending programs. Column also describes support for USDC and USDT, accounts and cards for verified customers globally, and foreign-currency accounts with conversion to and from U.S. dollars. Its card issuing connects to Visa and Mastercard and supports Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Garmin Pay. Developers can use API documentation, a sandbox and payment workflow guides. Column says its security program follows NIST and FFIEC guidance and is subject to governmental audits and independent third-party assessments. Pricing is on request; prospective customers are directed to contact sales.
Unit
Unit provides financial infrastructure for businesses that want to offer financial services inside their own products. Its building blocks include deposit and wallet accounts, cards, credit products, and payments through ACH, wires, RTP, checks, and international payments. A native ledger records transactions with settlement-level visibility. Developers can work through an API, customer tokens, simulations, open-source SDKs, and data warehouse sync, or use optional brandable UI components for web and mobile web, React Native, Android, and iOS. The Dashboard includes SAML 2.0 single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and team roles and permissions. Managed Solutions can build and operate Banking or Bill Pay modules and provide end-customer support under a client's brand. Unit lists integrations including Plaid, Yodlee, Intuit, and AWS S3. It identifies itself as a financial technology company, not a bank; partner banks provide banking services. Pricing is available on request.