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Column – a chartered bank for developers

column.com

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Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#221

Post by tomatowurst »

taejavu wrote: post #194
ncake wrote: post #168

If this is a US-only service, it should say so on the website somewhere. I've also had this experience with e.g. Betterment and Wealthfront. The only way to find out they're US-only is halfway through sign up process, not even anywhere in FAQ's.

The first line under the main heading starts with "The only nationally chartered bank...". That, combined with the dot com domain, implies pretty heavily that it's a US only thing. At least, it did for me.

I knew that there was zero chance of this being in Canada so that automatically left this being a US only operation. Very cool, I'm curious what sort of apps you could build on this, it seems that while you can get some programmatic access to banking, there's so many state specific regulations and law you have to abide by.

Money transfer license alone is quite expensive for each state.

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#223

Post by stavros »

This looks nice, I've been wanting to make a whitelist-enabled card for ages now. It would ask me if I want to trust the merchant before every charge, so anything unrecognized would just be rejected. I could also set limits by month/day/year per merchant and anything above that wouldn't go through.

Maybe this is exactly what I need.

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#224

Post by forgotmypw17 »

whockey wrote: post #31
mdaniel wrote: post #18

> Create account numbers that point to a single bank account and create specific permissions and limits for each one. I love that; there are so many places that give a 6% discount for using ACH but I don't want to give out my bank account details willy-nilly --- If you have influence over it, I wouldn't recommend having https://status.column.com/uptime default to "Sandbox" since I doubt seriously that's what anyone w…

I'm glad you noticed the account numbers as pointers concept - we think its pretty cool. I think there's some rad use cases that people will come up with! Thanks on the typo...deploying now :0

Thank you for being so responsive in this comments thread.

One other minor (accessibility) thing on the Status page: The dropdown (Sandbox/others) doesn't get hinted with Vimium (a keyboard accessibility add-on for fox and Chrom) or also with qutebrowser (a keyboard-first browser)

There's some info about it here, but it's basically it's made as a

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/53918093/how-can-i-make-...

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#225

Post by kxrm »

I like this, definitely will keep an eye on your service.

You need a proof reader.

https://column.com/card-programs/

Own your economics

  * You get 100% of interchange, control your unit economics, and build a company for scale.
- * Unliked managed programs, we are built for scale and flexibility.

+ * Unlike managed programs, we are built for scale and flexibility.

Developer-first card program

- * We are developers at our core. From settelement to clearing you control the process from our dashboard or API.

+ * We are developers at our core. From settlement to clearing you control the process from our dashboard or API.

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#226

Post by yumraj »

abirch wrote: post #154
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #84

Congratulations on the launch! I wonder if this kind of business model, where it looks like there is basically "one really rich guy self-funding" for a couple of years, is going to be more common. That is, just looking at the site, my guess is that building everything from the ground up (core banking stack, acquiring the chartered bank, then all the APIs and tech on top of that) must have taken many years and many, m…

I think many starts ups are "rich people" self funding (or are parental funded). For instance Microsoft and Bill Gate's and Paul Allen's helped them out a lot. Ditto with Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk's Tesla & Space X, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. You'll notice everyone aforementioned attended an Ivy League university.

Elon Musk did not found Tesla. He joined later after making an investment.

Founded in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning as Tesla Motors, the company's name is a tribute to inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. In February 2004, via a $6.5 million investment, X.com co-founder Elon Musk became the largest shareholder of the company and its chairman. He has served as CEO since 2008. [0]

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla,_Inc.

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#227

Post by Animats »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #84

Congratulations on the launch! I wonder if this kind of business model, where it looks like there is basically "one really rich guy self-funding" for a couple of years, is going to be more common. That is, just looking at the site, my guess is that building everything from the ground up (core banking stack, acquiring the chartered bank, then all the APIs and tech on top of that) must have taken many years and many, m…

acquiring the chartered bank

They seem to have bought Northern California National Bank in Chico, CA.[1] The Column web site doesn't mention it, but they still have a physical branch in Chico.

The FDIC gives their web site as "norcalbank.com", although it does show the name change to Column. Their site has no street address and "domain name only" TLS certificate from Amazon, so you don't really know for sure that column.com is connected to a real bank.

The terms[2] are very unfavorable to the customer, especially for a business which claims to be a real bank.

"THE MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF BANK AND ITS AFFILIATES, AND ITS AND THEIR LICENSORS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS, FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, WILL BE TEN U.S. DOLLARS ($10.00)."

There's an arbitration clause, and they demand to use JAMS, which is not as well thought of as the American Arbitration Association. "To reduce the time and expense of the arbitration, the arbitrator will not provide a statement of reasons for his or her award unless requested to do so by all Parties."

This is about the level of legitimacy one sees with the typical crypto operation. If you lose money through an error at their end, they don't have much of an incentive to fix the problem.

[1] https://banks.data.fdic.gov/bankfind-suite/bankfind/details/...

[2] https://column.com/api-terms-of-service

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#228

Post by recuter »

WJW wrote: post #160
abirch wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think many starts ups are "rich people" self funding (or are parental funded). For instance Microsoft and Bill Gate's and Paul Allen's helped them out a lot. Ditto with Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk's Tesla & Space X, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. You'll notice everyone aforementioned attended an Ivy League university.

At the very least Berkshire Hathaway is an odd example to be pointing out as a "self funded startup". Warren Buffett was an apprentice under Benjamin Graham for several years, operated several businesses beforehand to make his first millions and acquired the (heavily failing at the time) textile operations of Berkshire Hathaway around 1962, when Berkshire was already over a hundred years old.

He raised a couple million (inflation adjusted) from family and friends, starting with an old auntie. And taking over the textile operation of Berkshire Hathaway almost bankrupted him :)

The Buffet we think of today really emerged with meeting Charlie Munger.

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#229

Post by jeremyjh »

bpicolo wrote: post #197
jeremyjh wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a little confused about who your customers are. Do I have this right? - Competent to develop and manage AML, KYC programs - Wants to handle underwriting, fraud, compliance & operational risk exposure - Develops software - Doesn't want to talk to ACH & VISA - Operates only in the US Who is that?

There are several industries where wire for million dollar+ transactions are the norm. Seems like a real enabler in those spaces?

If you want to send wires via an API you get a bank account, you don't build your own bank with legos.

Re: Column – a chartered bank for developers

#230

Post by kommstar »

pc86 wrote: post #48
kommstar wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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