Assessment
Increase is used by fintechs and software platforms that need banking rails through an API. TechCrunch reports customers such as Ramp, Check, and Pipe, and its best use cases are ACH and wire orchestration, real-time payments, embedded accounts, and card issuing for product teams. Prices are sales-led, and its main competitors are Synctera, Treasury Prime, and Moov.
Darragh Buckley founded Increase after serving as Stripe’s first employee. Forbes says monthly payment volume tripled and deposits grew fourfold over the past year, and that the company became profitable in 2025. In July 2026 Increase announced Increase Bank, Member FDIC, as an API-first bank for technology companies.
It fits an engineering-led fintech that wants deep control over US money movement. It is a weaker fit for a small business that only needs a checking account UI, and for a buyer that wants a fully posted public price card before talking to sales.
Rating by criterion
We score each of the eight criteria out of 100.
Sector criteria
Use it when you need ACH, wires, FedNow, RTP, checks, cards, and accounts in one API. Increase markets direct access to those rails.
Issue cards and open accounts for product use cases. The company sells cards and flexible accounts alongside money movement.
Expect bank partnership and compliance work behind the product. Increase partners with FDIC-insured banks and announced Increase Bank in 2026.
Check vertical examples such as payroll, bill pay, wallets, and embedded lending on the product pages.
Vendor criteria
Expect continued rail and bank product work. 2026 updates cover FedNow, cards, and the Increase Bank announcement.
Plan a sales-led technical onboarding. Signup exists, but serious programs still run through sales and compliance review.
Ask for written pricing. Public pages emphasize products more than a full rate card.
Negotiate by volume and rails used. High-throughput money movement programs have more room on economics.
Against its peers
These are the other companies in business banking and treasury, with their ratings.
User comments
Buyer-oriented points below are drawn from Increase’s home page, Forbes company page, and TechCrunch coverage.
- Upside
- Upside
- Downside
Where customer reviews couldn't be found, our analysts attempted to give a voice to buyer sentiment, drawing on real information from review sites, forums and product documentation. We omit sites where vendors pay to be featured or pay for a review, plus any review the site flags as incentivized.
Based on: Increase home page; Forbes, Increase; TechCrunch, July 2025.
Fact file
| Founder and CEO | Darragh Buckley |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2019, Bend, Oregon |
| Funding model | Self-funded / profitable in 2025 (Forbes) |
| Example customers | Ramp, Check, Pipe (TechCrunch) |
| 2026 bank note | Announced Increase Bank, Member FDIC |
Competitive landscape
Banking API and BaaS providers a fintech would compare with Increase.
Increase: 77
- Increase77
- Mercury84
- Moov77
- Synctera76
- Treasury Prime73
- UnitNot reviewed
Comparisons
Key leadership
Darragh Buckley founded Increase and is its chief executive. He was Stripe’s first employee before starting the company.
How this review was created
This profile gives our own assessment of Increase to companies selecting a Business banking & treasury provider. The Fintech Index receives nothing for featuring a firm, for sponsorship, or for advertising, and Increase gave us no payment for the profile.
The rating equals the average of eight criteria, with every criterion running from 0 to 100. Four address buyer needs in this sector, and four address the company together with its commercial terms.
Ratings are our editorial judgment, made from public information: pricing and legal pages, product documentation, compliance disclosures, public reviews and filings. Fact-checking took place on November 6, 2026.
Source pages
- Increase home page: https://increase.com/ (As of November 6, 2026)
- Increase updates: https://increase.com/updates (As of November 6, 2026)
- Forbes, Increase: https://www.forbes.com/companies/increase/ (As of November 6, 2026)
- TechCrunch, July 2025: https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/03/stripes-first-employee-the-founder-of-fintech-increase-sort-of-bought-a-bank/ (As of November 6, 2026)