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Column – a chartered bank for developers

column.com

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Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#41

Im consistently disappointed with the state of banks in the US (Aussie here). This looks amazing. Would it be possible for me to build something for personal use on top of this? Or are you only targeting business at this stage?

Tacking onto this question, does anyone have recommendations for US banks that have API access and allow personal use?

I've come across a couple companies such as Mercury but they're only for business use.

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#42
post #8

Hey founder (and OP) here. This has been a labor of love for the past few years and I'm super stoked on what we shipped. Would love any and all feedback, thoughts and questions!

Is there a way to invite other users to a developer account? Or is it single user?

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#43
Congrats on launching!

I just want to vent about something bank-related, and hopefully bait someone to tell me how this solves it. Or something else solves it.

Have you ever heard how you could pay off your mortgage a lot quicker by making bi-weekly payments instead of monthly? Or how you can include extra with your payment and instruct your bank to apply it directly to the premium, helping you reduce your interest?

TLDR, I think people giving this advice haven’t tried applying it.

Well, I wanted to do that - but in practice I found it near impossible to accomplish. First - any form of electronic bill-pay is right out of the window, because any extra payments or amount - the bank will apply as pre-paying your next scheduled payment, which means you are pre-paying not just principal, but the interest as well. Why would anyone want to do that? The bank helpfully told me that “some people maybe are going on vacation and will be away when the bill is due”. Yeah…

You can try to submit a paper invoice with special instructions by postal mail. Then it may or may not work. I don’t know if it’s incompetence or outright customer-hostile behavior from the bank, but this method succeeded only some of the time. You have to follow up by phone to find out and even so making any corrections after the fact is difficult and requires multiple call transfers and waiting on hold.

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#44
This is a cool idea for sure...as a dev I'll definitely take a look at the API docs.

That said, are you a tad worried about the future of "fintech apps"? It seems like a lot of the revenue growth in this space was heavily related to ZIRP and/or super low rates in the preceding few years, which made these apps more attractive to consumers. So, is there an existential worry that the success of the apps that will build on top of your bank is too closely tied to potentially unrealistic Fed policy?

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#46

Im consistently disappointed with the state of banks in the US (Aussie here). This looks amazing. Would it be possible for me to build something for personal use on top of this? Or are you only targeting business at this stage?

Tacking onto this question, does anyone have recommendations for US banks that have API access and allow personal use? I've come across a couple companies such as Mercury but they're only for business use.

I've resorted to writing a service that can initiate transfers and retrieve transactions for a smaller US bank.

I really just want a bank account with an API, that would be so, so nice.

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#47

Congrats on launching! I just want to vent about something bank-related, and hopefully bait someone to tell me how this solves it. Or something else solves it. Have you ever heard how you could pay off your mortgage a lot quicker by making bi-weekly payments instead of monthly? Or how you can include extra with your payment and instruct your bank to apply it directly to the premium, helping you reduce your interest?…

I am able to add additional premium payments to my payment, or as a separate payment, via my online mortgage payment site.

It sounds like the bank/site your loan is under is actively hostile towards such payments. I don't know enough about mortgages to know how to help you solve your side, though.

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#48
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Super interesting - what would you like to see? Like USD/USDC swappable accounts or something?

Right now I have an account now where I can deposit USDC and spend via tap to pay/debit card. Basically just a debit card linked crypto account, rewards are $$$ (4%) and adjusting balances is fast and easy. Also programmable so I can replace what is spent without having to manually transfer. This helps tremendously with managing the families access/budgeting of funds. Would also be nice to have an account where legac…

What is this account through? That sounds interesting.

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#50

Congrats on launching! I just want to vent about something bank-related, and hopefully bait someone to tell me how this solves it. Or something else solves it. Have you ever heard how you could pay off your mortgage a lot quicker by making bi-weekly payments instead of monthly? Or how you can include extra with your payment and instruct your bank to apply it directly to the premium, helping you reduce your interest?…

Sounds like you have had the misfortune of using terrible banks. I have never had this issue with home mortgages or car loans, it was always easy to make extra payments directly to the principal.
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