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APIs · head to head

Enable Banking vs Highnote

Enable Banking logo

Enable Banking

APIs

European bank API aggregation with a free restricted production tier for your own accounts

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Highnote logo

Highnote

APIs

Card issuing, acquiring and ledger on one platform for embedded payments

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Enable Banking has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Enable Banking production pricing is quoted per connected account and call volume with no published rate card, so a free proof of concept gives you no idea of cost at scale.; Highnote card issuing requires a sponsor bank, and that bank sets programme approval, compliance obligations and often minimum volumes, so a small programme can be rejected regardless of technical fit.
  • They diverge on capability: Enable Banking covers European bank coverage, Highnote covers Card issuing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Enable Banking and Highnote actually diverge.

Attributes where Enable Banking and Highnote differ
AttributeEnable BankingHighnote
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer connected account per monthquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, REST APIWeb, API

Identical on both: 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 Enable Banking

  • European bank coverage
  • Free sandbox
  • Restricted production
  • TPP infrastructure as a service
  • Consent handling
  • Payment initiation

Only in Highnote

  • Card issuing
  • Merchant acquiring
  • Unified ledger
  • Spend controls
  • GraphQL API
  • Programme management
  • Dispute handling
  • Real time authorisation webhooks

What people use each for

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

Enable Banking

  • A small fintech that needs to operate as an agent rather than wait a year for its own AISP authorisationnot Highnote
  • An accounting software vendor pulling bank transactions across several European countriesnot Highnote
  • A treasury tool building and testing a real integration before committing to a contractnot Highnote
  • A lender verifying applicant income from bank data across the Nordics and the EUnot Highnote

Highnote

  • A marketplace that both pays out to sellers and issues them spend cards, wanting one settlement ledgernot Enable Banking
  • A vertical software company embedding card acceptance and card issuing for the same customer basenot Enable Banking
  • A fintech launching a commercial charge card programme with custom authorisation logicnot Enable Banking
  • A platform replacing separate issuing and acquiring vendors to remove cross system reconciliationnot Enable Banking

Where each one falls short

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

Enable Banking

  • Production pricing is quoted per connected account and call volume with no published rate card, so a free proof of concept gives you no idea of cost at scale.
  • Coverage is European, which rules it out as a single supplier for anyone needing UK plus North American bank data as well.
  • Operating as an agent under the Enable Banking licence means your regulatory permission depends on another company remaining authorised and willing to sponsor you.
  • Bank API quality varies widely across Europe, and outages or degraded endpoints at individual institutions surface as failures in your own product.
  • It is a small Finnish company selling into regulated financial services, so enterprise procurement and vendor resilience reviews are a recurring obstacle.

Highnote

  • Card issuing requires a sponsor bank, and that bank sets programme approval, compliance obligations and often minimum volumes, so a small programme can be rejected regardless of technical fit.
  • Pricing is entirely quoted, including platform fees, per active card charges and monthly minimums that do not appear on the website, so the true cost per card is only visible late in a sales process.
  • Interchange sharing is the real revenue model for most customers, and the split is negotiated, capped for regulated debit under the Durbin amendment and sensitive to your spend mix, so revenue projections built on headline interchange rates overstate income.
  • Running issuing and acquiring with one provider concentrates risk: an outage or a compliance action affects both money in and money out at the same time.
  • Highnote is a younger company than the established issuer processors, so long term programme continuity, network certifications in new geographies and international coverage are thinner than the incumbent alternatives.

Pricing, plan by plan

Enable Banking

Free
  • Sandbox and restricted productionFree
    • Mock and real bank sandbox access
    • Production access limited to accounts you link yourself
    • Full API surface for development and certification
  • Production$undefined/year
    • Quoted by connected accounts per month and call volume
    • Priced by number of institutions and markets in scope
    • Different rates under your own licence or as an agent

Highnote

On request
  • Highnote platform$undefined/year
    • Quoted per programme with no public rate card
    • Requires a sponsor bank relationship for card issuing
    • Interchange sharing terms negotiated per programme

Which should you pick?

Choose Enable Banking if

  • You need european bank coverage.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, REST API.
  • You also want free sandbox.
Enable Banking review

Choose Highnote if

  • You need card issuing.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want merchant acquiring.
Highnote review

Questions people ask

Is Enable Banking or Highnote better?
Neither clearly leads. Enable Banking starts at Free and Highnote at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Enable Banking or Highnote?
Enable Banking has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Enable Banking and On request for Highnote.
Does Enable Banking or Highnote run on more platforms?
Enable Banking runs on Web, REST API. Highnote runs on Web, API.
Can I use Enable Banking for free?
Yes. Enable Banking has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Highnote starts at On request.
What is Enable Banking best used for?
Enable Banking is most often used for a small fintech that needs to operate as an agent rather than wait a year for its own aisp authorisation, an accounting software vendor pulling bank transactions across several european countries, a treasury tool building and testing a real integration before committing to a contract, a lender verifying applicant income from bank data across the nordics and the eu. Of those, a small fintech that needs to operate as an agent rather than wait a year for its own aisp authorisation and an accounting software vendor pulling bank transactions across several european countries are not what Highnote is typically brought in for.
What can Enable Banking do that Highnote cannot?
Enable Banking covers European bank coverage, Free sandbox, Restricted production, TPP infrastructure as a service. Highnote covers Card issuing, Merchant acquiring, Unified ledger, Spend controls.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Enable Banking: Is there really a free tier?

Yes, sandbox plus restricted production against accounts you link yourself. Commercial third-party access is quoted separately.

Highnote: Do I need a sponsor bank?

Yes for card issuing in the United States. Highnote is a processor and programme platform, not a bank, and the sponsor bank sets approval and compliance terms.

Enable Banking: Do I need my own AISP licence?

No. Enable Banking offers third-party provider infrastructure as a service so you can operate as an agent under its authorisation.

Highnote: How do customers make money on a card programme?

Mostly interchange sharing. Negotiate the split explicitly and model it against your actual spend mix, since regulated debit interchange is capped.

Enable Banking: How is production priced?

By connected accounts per month and call volume, adjusted for markets in scope and whether you use your own licence.

Highnote: Can Highnote handle both accepting and issuing payments?

Yes since its 2025 acquiring launch, on the same ledger, which is its main structural differentiator.

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