btmerr

We love Plaid, but we're different. We compete with other banks -- Chase, Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic, Wells Fargo, etc.

Zach can speak for Plaid, but to my understanding they're focused on providing API's that improve banking experiences for existing banks and bank customers.

We're building a better business banking service.

To do so, we built an API first. Rather than waiting to release our mobile and web clients to serve traditional banking customers, we decided to release our API first, so that any companies that can take advantage of it can get after it. We've talked to a lot of companies that want to automate ACH payments, wires, check sending, and so on, rather than relying on manual and offline processes. Most businesses will be best served by our apps, once they're available.

As for use cases, our conversations with business owners have led us to believe that nearly everyone is frustrated with the existing banks. Applications are difficult to use, offline forms are required, service is poor, and so on.

It's difficult to answer this question, because the nature of foreign exchange and banking in different countries makes it hard to generalize.

What I can say right now is that our pricing will be transparent, consistent, and as low as possible. We will not seek to profit off of international payments fees, and any fees we pass through will be shared transparently.

For comparison, we have heard of international transactions processed by banks that are charged upwards of 7% of the value of the transaction. Our pricing will be <1% in most cases.

Dan can do a better job of talking about Standard Treasury than I can, so I'll let him speak for them.

As for us, we are not planning on serving consumers. We are focused on serving startups and small business customers by providing traditional business banking services in addition to our API.

Our API offering is directed at a niche audience, but we'll be offering more products in the future, such as traditional online business banking, lending, and so on.

+1 to someone fixing home mortgages. Super painful.

Short answer, yes. We have a lot of ideas about how to offer credit and lending products, both ourselves, and with partners. We're spending a lot of time talking to companies to understand the current pain points, and we'll be able to share more soon.

Hey there, I'm Brian Merritt, the CEO of SEED. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. You can also email me at brian at seed.co.