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APIs · head to head

Griffin vs Method Financial

Griffin logo

Griffin

APIs

UK banking-as-a-service from a company that holds its own full banking licence

From
£100/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Method Financial logo

Method Financial

APIs

Consumer liability data and payment API covering credit cards, loans and mortgages without account credentials

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Griffin platform banking carries a one-off onboarding fee from 15,000 pounds and a 3,500 pound monthly minimum, which prices out early-stage companies entirely.; Method Financial institution coverage is uneven once you move beyond major card issuers, so a lender focused on auto or student loan servicers should test its own portfolio mix rather than trust the headline institution count.
  • They diverge on capability: Griffin covers Bank accounts by API, Method Financial covers Identity-based account resolution.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Griffin and Method Financial actually diverge.

Attributes where Griffin and Method Financial differ
AttributeGriffinMethod Financial
Starting price£100/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month with usage drawdownquote
PlatformsWeb, REST APIWeb

Identical on both: 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 Griffin

  • Bank accounts by API
  • UK payment rails
  • Integrated ledger
  • Automated onboarding
  • Debit cards
  • Interest on balances

Only in Method Financial

  • Identity-based account resolution
  • Liability data
  • Payoff quotes
  • Direct card payoff
  • Loan payments
  • Method Sync
  • Wide institution reach
  • Consent management

What people use each for

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

Griffin

  • A wealth platform that must hold client money in a licensed bank rather than an EMI safeguarding accountnot Method Financial
  • A lender wanting UK accounts and payment rails without becoming a bank itselfnot Method Financial
  • A fintech burned by sponsor bank instability that wants the deposit holder and the API provider to be the same entitynot Method Financial
  • A platform needing sub-account ledgering for pooled client funds with a clean audit trailnot Method Financial

Method Financial

  • A debt consolidation lender that needs every card balance and payoff quote for an applicant without asking them to log into each issuernot Griffin
  • A credit card refinancing product that must send funds directly to the cards being paid off rather than to the consumernot Griffin
  • A personal finance application that wants an accurate debt picture including auto and student loans that deposit-account aggregation does not shownot Griffin
  • A credit union offering balance transfer where the application drop-off from credentialed linking is the main constraint on volumenot Griffin

Where each one falls short

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

Griffin

  • Platform banking carries a one-off onboarding fee from 15,000 pounds and a 3,500 pound monthly minimum, which prices out early-stage companies entirely.
  • It is UK-only, so a business with European or US operations needs a second banking provider and a second integration for those entities.
  • It is a young bank with a small balance sheet relative to incumbents, and enterprise counterparties still ask hard questions about concentration risk.
  • Holding a banking licence means Griffin applies bank-grade due diligence to its own clients, so onboarding is slower and more selective than an EMI-based provider.
  • Feature breadth is narrower than long-established providers, particularly in card programme management and in payment types beyond core UK rails.

Method Financial

  • Institution coverage is uneven once you move beyond major card issuers, so a lender focused on auto or student loan servicers should test its own portfolio mix rather than trust the headline institution count.
  • It reads liabilities, not cash flow, so a lender that also needs income and affordability evidence is running a second aggregator alongside it and paying twice for consumer connectivity.
  • Payoff quote accuracy and freshness are commercially load bearing, because a consolidation loan funded against a stale figure leaves a residual balance and a customer complaint, and the contractual position on that risk needs to be explicit.
  • Pricing is unpublished and split across data and payment events, which makes unit economics hard to model before volume and easy to misjudge in a product where every application triggers multiple calls.
  • Identity-based access without credentials depends on consumer consent capture being defensible, and any shift in US regulatory interpretation of permissioned data access lands directly on this model rather than on the edges of it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Griffin

£100/month
  • Business Banking$100/month
    • From 100 pounds per month
    • Interest or commission from around 1.75 percent AER variable
    • Operational accounts and UK payment rails
  • Platform Banking$3500/month
    • One-off onboarding fee from 15,000 pounds
    • Minimum monthly spend of 3,500 pounds, drawn down by usage
    • Higher committed tiers at 5,000 and 10,000 pounds with discounts
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom pricing
    • Bespoke account structures and volumes
    • Negotiated interest or commission share

Method Financial

On request
  • Method API$undefined/year
    • Quoted by volume and product mix across data retrieval and payments
    • Separate pricing for liability data, payoff quotes and payment execution
    • Sandbox access available for development

Which should you pick?

Choose Griffin if

  • You need bank accounts by api.
  • You work on Web, REST API.
  • You also want uk payment rails.
Griffin review

Choose Method Financial if

  • You need identity-based account resolution.
  • You also want liability data.
Method Financial review

Questions people ask

Is Griffin or Method Financial better?
Neither clearly leads. Griffin starts at £100/month and Method Financial at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Griffin or Method Financial?
Griffin starts at £100/month and Method Financial at On request.
Does Griffin or Method Financial run on more platforms?
Griffin runs on Web, REST API. Method Financial runs on Web.
What is Griffin best used for?
Griffin is most often used for a wealth platform that must hold client money in a licensed bank rather than an emi safeguarding account, a lender wanting uk accounts and payment rails without becoming a bank itself, a fintech burned by sponsor bank instability that wants the deposit holder and the api provider to be the same entity, a platform needing sub-account ledgering for pooled client funds with a clean audit trail. Of those, a wealth platform that must hold client money in a licensed bank rather than an emi safeguarding account and a lender wanting uk accounts and payment rails without becoming a bank itself are not what Method Financial is typically brought in for.
What can Griffin do that Method Financial cannot?
Griffin covers Bank accounts by API, UK payment rails, Integrated ledger, Automated onboarding. Method Financial covers Identity-based account resolution, Liability data, Payoff quotes, Direct card payoff.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Griffin: Is Griffin actually a bank?

Yes. It received a UK banking licence with restrictions in March 2023 and a full licence in March 2024 after exiting mobilisation.

Method Financial: How is this different from Plaid?

Plaid connects to deposit accounts with credentials and returns transactions. Method resolves liabilities from verified identity without credentials and can pay those accounts directly. Most lenders use both.

Griffin: What does it cost?

Business banking from 100 pounds a month; platform banking from a 15,000 pound onboarding fee plus a 3,500 pound monthly minimum drawn down by usage.

Method Financial: Do consumers have to log in to each card issuer?

No. That is the point of the product, and removing that step is what changes conversion in consolidation and refinancing flows.

Griffin: Does it cover Europe?

No. Griffin is a UK bank serving UK accounts and UK payment rails.

Method Financial: What does it cost?

Not published. It is quoted by volume and split across liability data, payoff quotes and payment execution.

Method Financial: Can it actually pay off a credit card?

Yes, funds are sent directly to the identified card accounts, which is what makes balance transfer and consolidation products work without account numbers.

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