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With open banking, identity verification, and account-to-account money movement in a single API
Straddle is a payment infrastructure platform that combines identity verification and open banking to enable secure, fast bank payments. Our API allows businesses to verify customer identities, connect to customer bank accounts, and initiate payments - all through a single integration. By linking verified identities directly to bank accounts, Straddle reduces fraud risk and enables debit-like performance and funding speed without the interchange fees.
Straddle works by providing a suite of APIs and tools that businesses integrate into their applications. The core of our system is the concept of a “Paykey” - a secure token that represents a verified identity linked to a specific bank account. When a customer connects their bank account through Straddle (either via our open banking connections or by providing account and routing numbers), we verify their identity and create a Paykey. This Paykey can then be used to initiate both payments and payouts securely.
Building on Straddle can help you streamline payment operations, reduce fraud, and offer customers a smoother, more secure payment experience.
Whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, Straddle provides the tools you need to handle complex payment scenarios with ease.
Core Functionality
Identity First
Identity First: Onboard and verify individual or business customers in less than a second using Straddle ID, a graph-defined identity engine.
Powered by Open Banking
Powered by Open Banking: Connect customer identity to open banking data via Bridge, Straddle’s “no-code” widget, or use existing tokens from providers like Mastercard (Finicity), Plaid, and MX.
Secure Payments
Secure Payments: All payments are protected with built-in balance confirmation and real-time fraud detection through Watchtower, Straddle’s transaction monitoring risk engine.
Faster Money Movement
Faster Money Movement: Built-in balance and risk scores enable 24-hour direct debits, with payouts via dynamic multi-rail orchestration across ACH, RTP, and FedNow (coming soon).
Compliant by Default
Compliant by Default: Integrated KYC, watchlist screening, and transaction monitoring ensure robust compliance without additional engineering overhead.
Developer-Friendly
Developer Friendly: A single, secure API stack that simplifies complex infrastructure into easy-to-implement code.
How Straddle Works
Straddle operates by allowing your customers (individuals or businesses) to connect their financial accounts to your application. This connection process is facilitated through Bridge, Straddle’s account connectivity suite, which provides a secure open banking flow.
1
Customer Creation and Identity Verification
Use Straddle’s API to create a customer profile. Straddle automatically verifies the customer’s identity using the provided information, leveraging its built-in identity verification system.
2
Account Connection
Implement Bridge to allow customers to securely connect their bank accounts. This can be done through Straddle’s drop-in widget or by using existing tokens from supported providers.
3
Paykey Creation
Once a bank account is connected, a Paykey is created. This is a secure token linking the verified identity to the payment method.
4
Pay by Bank
Use the Paykey to initiate charges or payouts through Straddle’s API, benefiting from built-in fraud detection and compliance checks. Returning customers skip right to this step!
Core Products
Straddle offers four core products that work together to provide a comprehensive payment solution:
Identity
Straddle’s Identity product is the foundation of our platform, providing robust customer management and identity verification features:
Instant onboarding and verification of individual or business customers
Utilizes Straddle ID, a graph-defined identity engine
Integrated KYC and AML compliance checks
Manages customer profiles, including contact information and payment preferences
Real-time fraud detection through Watchtower, our transaction monitoring risk engine
Bridge
Bridge is our account connectivity suite that securely links users to their financial accounts:
Offers a drop-in open banking widget connecting to 90% of US bank accounts
Supports existing third-party tokens from providers like Plaid, MX, and Finicity
Provides API-based bank account verification for “out of network” banks
Generates Paykeys, secure tokens linking verified identities to payment methods
Enables balance checks and account information retrieval
Note - Bridge also supports manual entry of routing and account numbers. This feature is particularly useful for existing customers or in situations where an open-banking connection isn’t possible. It ensures that you can create Paykeys and process payments even when direct bank connectivity isn’t available or preferred.
Pay by Bank
Pay by Bank is Straddle’s unified payment processing solution:
Uses Paykeys generated by Bridge to initiate charges or payouts
Supports various payment rails including ACH, RTP, and FedNow (coming soon)
Provides built-in fraud detection and compliance checks for all transactions
Enables 24-hour direct debits with built-in balance and risk scoring
Offers a simple API for initiating and managing payments
Embed
Embed is our solution for platforms, allowing them to offer Straddle’s capabilities to their own users:
Purpose-built API stack for software providers, marketplaces, and payment facilitators
Allows platforms to extend and monetize Straddle’s payments infrastructure
Provides white-label solutions for identity verification, account linking, and payment processing
Handles regulatory compliance, reducing liability for platforms
Offers flexible integration options to suit various platform architectures
These core products work seamlessly together, enabling you to quickly implement sophisticated payment functionality, reduce fraud, and provide a seamless experience for your users.