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APIs · head to head

Column vs Treasury Prime

Column logo

Column

APIs

A nationally chartered US bank that ships its own API, with no middleware in between

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Treasury Prime logo

Treasury Prime

APIs

Banking as a service platform sold to sponsor banks rather than to fintechs

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Column column publishes no pricing whatsoever, so there is no way to model cost before a sales process, and terms are negotiated per programme which favours larger, more sophisticated buyers.; Treasury Prime a fintech cannot buy Treasury Prime directly since the 2024 pivot, so the sales process starts with finding a sponsor bank willing to take your programme, which adds months and removes most of your negotiating leverage on fees.
  • They diverge on capability: Column covers National bank charter, Treasury Prime covers BankOS.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Column and Treasury Prime actually diverge.

Attributes where Column and Treasury Prime differ
AttributeColumnTreasury Prime
PlatformsWeb, APIAPI, Web

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (APIs).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Column

  • National bank charter
  • Direct Federal Reserve access
  • Ledger and accounts
  • International wires
  • Real-time payments
  • Lending
  • Cheque handling
  • Correspondent banking

Only in Treasury Prime

  • BankOS
  • OneKey Banking
  • Deposit accounts
  • Payments
  • Card issuing
  • Bank oversight tooling
  • Ledger and reconciliation
  • Programme onboarding

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Column

  • A fintech that has been burned by a middleware provider failing and wants its deposits held by the same entity that provides the APInot Treasury Prime
  • A payments company needing direct Fedwire and Swift access rather than routing through a correspondent it cannot seenot Treasury Prime
  • A lender that wants origination, funding and deposit accounts from one chartered institution instead of three counterpartiesnot Treasury Prime
  • A payroll or treasury platform where same-day settlement certainty matters more than fast onboardingnot Treasury Prime

Treasury Prime

  • A community or regional bank that wants to run an embedded finance line with examiner-acceptable oversight of its fintech programmesnot Column
  • A fintech that has already chosen its sponsor bank and needs API access to that bank rather than to a middleware layernot Column
  • A company that wants deposits spread across several banks for FDIC coverage beyond a single institution limitnot Column
  • A bank replacing a fragile middleware arrangement with a structure where it holds the customer contract and the oversight obligationnot Column

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Column

  • Column publishes no pricing whatsoever, so there is no way to model cost before a sales process, and terms are negotiated per programme which favours larger, more sophisticated buyers.
  • Onboarding is bank diligence rather than vendor sign-up, and programmes routinely spend several months on compliance review, flow of funds documentation and volume forecasting before the first live transaction.
  • Column selects its customers and declines many, so the charter advantage is only available to programmes it considers acceptable risk, which excludes most early-stage teams.
  • It is United States only, so any programme with international account or local payment needs must add a second banking relationship and reconcile across both.
  • Being the bank means Column also carries the bank's regulatory constraints, so product changes that affect risk, such as new customer segments or higher-risk flows, need approval rather than a configuration change.

Treasury Prime

  • A fintech cannot buy Treasury Prime directly since the 2024 pivot, so the sales process starts with finding a sponsor bank willing to take your programme, which adds months and removes most of your negotiating leverage on fees.
  • Commercial terms including minimum deposit balances, reserve requirements and per transaction pricing are set by the bank rather than the platform, so two fintechs on the same software can face materially different economics with no public benchmark.
  • The company cut roughly half its staff in the 2024 pivot, which reduced the teams that supported fintech customers directly and left fintechs relying on their bank for support rather than on the vendor who wrote the software.
  • Bank risk appetite is now the binding constraint, and after the Synapse failure sponsor banks decline programmes in higher risk categories that a middleware provider would once have onboarded, so some business models simply cannot get placed.
  • If your sponsor bank exits the programme or is told by its regulator to reduce fintech exposure, you are migrating your entire deposit base to another institution, and the software being the same at both ends does not make that a small project.

Pricing, plan by plan

Column

On request
  • Column Bank Platform$undefined/year
    • Deposit accounts and ledger
    • ACH, wire, RTP and cheque rails
    • International wires over Swift

Treasury Prime

On request
  • BankOS$undefined/year
    • Sold to sponsor banks, not directly to fintechs
    • Fintech commercial terms are set by the sponsor bank
    • Minimum deposits, reserves and per transaction fees vary by bank

Which should you pick?

Choose Column if

  • You need national bank charter.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want direct federal reserve access.
Column review

Choose Treasury Prime if

  • You need bankos.
  • You work on API, Web.
  • You also want onekey banking.
Treasury Prime review

Questions people ask

Is Column or Treasury Prime better?
Neither clearly leads. Column starts at On request and Treasury Prime at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Column or Treasury Prime?
Column starts at On request and Treasury Prime at On request.
Does Column or Treasury Prime run on more platforms?
Column runs on Web, API. Treasury Prime runs on API, Web.
What is Column best used for?
Column is most often used for a fintech that has been burned by a middleware provider failing and wants its deposits held by the same entity that provides the api, a payments company needing direct fedwire and swift access rather than routing through a correspondent it cannot see, a lender that wants origination, funding and deposit accounts from one chartered institution instead of three counterparties, a payroll or treasury platform where same-day settlement certainty matters more than fast onboarding. Of those, a fintech that has been burned by a middleware provider failing and wants its deposits held by the same entity that provides the api and a payments company needing direct fedwire and swift access rather than routing through a correspondent it cannot see are not what Treasury Prime is typically brought in for.
What can Column do that Treasury Prime cannot?
Column covers National bank charter, Direct Federal Reserve access, Ledger and accounts, International wires. Treasury Prime covers BankOS, OneKey Banking, Deposit accounts, Payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Column: Is Column actually a bank?

Yes. It is a nationally chartered, FDIC-insured bank, which is why there is no sponsor bank behind it.

Treasury Prime: Can a fintech buy Treasury Prime directly?

No. Since the 2024 pivot it sells to banks. A fintech contracts with a sponsor bank running BankOS, and the bank sets the terms.

Column: How is that different from Synctera or Unit?

Those are technology providers that connect you to a separate sponsor bank. With Column the API provider and the depository institution are the same company.

Treasury Prime: Why did it change model?

Regulatory pressure on the tri-party middleware structure, sharpened by the Synapse failure. Examiners want the bank holding the customer contract and the oversight obligation, which is what bank-direct means.

Column: What does Column cost?

Nothing is published. Pricing is negotiated per programme.

Treasury Prime: What is OneKey Banking?

A way of spreading deposits across several banks in the network, used for FDIC coverage above a single institution limit and for resilience if one bank exits.

Column: How long does onboarding take?

Expect months. This is bank-grade diligence on your compliance programme, not a vendor sign-up.

Treasury Prime: Is pricing published?

No, at neither the bank nor the fintech level. Fintech economics are set by the sponsor bank, so expect wide variation.

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