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APIs · head to head

Increase vs Q2 Digital Banking

Increase logo

Increase

APIs

Direct banking API for ACH, wires, real-time payments, accounts and cards

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Q2 Digital Banking logo

Q2 Digital Banking

APIs

Digital banking platform for US banks and credit unions, with a developer marketplace

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Increase the published per transaction rates exclude a monthly platform fee that Increase states varies by use case, so the transparent price page cannot produce a total cost and the material part of the deal is still negotiated privately.; Q2 Digital Banking contracts are multi-year and priced per user or account, so a bank whose digital adoption grows faster than its revenue sees costs rise ahead of the benefit.
  • They diverge on capability: Increase covers ACH origination and receipt, Q2 Digital Banking covers Retail digital banking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Increase and Q2 Digital Banking actually diverge.

Attributes where Increase and Q2 Digital Banking differ
AttributeIncreaseQ2 Digital Banking
PlatformsAPI, WebWeb, iOS, Android

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 Increase

  • ACH origination and receipt
  • Domestic wires
  • Real-time payments
  • Bank accounts
  • Cards
  • Cheques
  • Sandbox and simulations
  • Audit and reconciliation data

Only in Q2 Digital Banking

  • Retail digital banking
  • Commercial and treasury
  • Innovation Studio
  • SDK
  • Fraud analytics
  • Onboarding

What people use each for

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

Increase

  • A payroll or treasury product that needs to originate same-day ACH and wires under its own control rather than through a payment processornot Q2 Digital Banking
  • A marketplace that must hold seller balances in ledgered accounts with real account and routing numbersnot Q2 Digital Banking
  • A fintech that wants FedNow and RTP payouts so recipients are paid outside banking hoursnot Q2 Digital Banking
  • An engineering team that needs the underlying return codes and settlement timing visible in order to build correct reconciliation and retry logicnot Q2 Digital Banking

Q2 Digital Banking

  • A community bank whose mobile app is losing younger customers to national brandsnot Increase
  • A credit union that wants to add partner features without a vendor roadmap requestnot Increase
  • A bank chasing commercial deposits and needing real treasury management entitlementsnot Increase
  • An institution wanting behavioural fraud detection across digital channels rather than at the corenot Increase

Where each one falls short

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

Increase

  • The published per transaction rates exclude a monthly platform fee that Increase states varies by use case, so the transparent price page cannot produce a total cost and the material part of the deal is still negotiated privately.
  • Free allowances are deliberately small at ten account numbers and five physical cards, so any programme issuing accounts or cards at volume moves to quoted pricing almost immediately.
  • Banking is provided through partner banks, so programme approval, compliance obligations and the ability to launch at all depend on a bank relationship you do not control, and post-Synapse bank risk appetite has tightened considerably.
  • The API deliberately exposes payment rail mechanics rather than smoothing them, which is correct engineering but means a team without payments expertise will build reconciliation and return handling wrongly and only discover it when funds go astray.
  • Coverage is United States only, so a company with international payout needs runs a second provider and reconciles two ledgers, and the single API argument disappears at the first cross border customer.

Q2 Digital Banking

  • Contracts are multi-year and priced per user or account, so a bank whose digital adoption grows faster than its revenue sees costs rise ahead of the benefit.
  • It is a channel layer, not a core, so any limitation in the underlying core banking system remains and integration work sits with the bank.
  • Implementations are long and consume scarce internal technology capacity at institutions that typically have very small IT teams.
  • Marketplace applications carry separate third-party contracts and fees, so the extensibility that justifies the purchase adds cost rather than being included.
  • It is US-only, and its assumptions about payment rails, regulation and account structures do not transfer to institutions outside the United States.

Pricing, plan by plan

Increase

On request
  • Increase Platform$undefined/month
    • Monthly fee quoted by use case and not published
    • Next-day ACH origination listed at 0.50 US dollars per transaction
    • Same-day ACH origination listed at 2.00 per transaction

Q2 Digital Banking

On request
  • Q2 Digital Banking$undefined/year
    • Multi-year contract priced per registered user or per account
    • Separate licensing for retail, commercial and onboarding modules
    • Implementation and core integration charged as a project

Which should you pick?

Choose Increase if

  • You need ach origination and receipt.
  • You work on API, Web.
  • You also want domestic wires.
Increase review

Choose Q2 Digital Banking if

  • You need retail digital banking.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want commercial and treasury.
Q2 Digital Banking review

Questions people ask

Is Increase or Q2 Digital Banking better?
Neither clearly leads. Increase starts at On request and Q2 Digital Banking at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Increase or Q2 Digital Banking?
Increase starts at On request and Q2 Digital Banking at On request.
Does Increase or Q2 Digital Banking run on more platforms?
Increase runs on API, Web. Q2 Digital Banking runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Increase best used for?
Increase is most often used for a payroll or treasury product that needs to originate same-day ach and wires under its own control rather than through a payment processor, a marketplace that must hold seller balances in ledgered accounts with real account and routing numbers, a fintech that wants fednow and rtp payouts so recipients are paid outside banking hours, an engineering team that needs the underlying return codes and settlement timing visible in order to build correct reconciliation and retry logic. Of those, a payroll or treasury product that needs to originate same-day ach and wires under its own control rather than through a payment processor and a marketplace that must hold seller balances in ledgered accounts with real account and routing numbers are not what Q2 Digital Banking is typically brought in for.
What can Increase do that Q2 Digital Banking cannot?
Increase covers ACH origination and receipt, Domestic wires, Real-time payments, Bank accounts. Q2 Digital Banking covers Retail digital banking, Commercial and treasury, Innovation Studio, SDK.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Increase: Does Increase publish its pricing?

Partly. Per transaction fees for ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow and cards are listed publicly. The monthly platform fee is not, and it is described only as varying by use case.

Q2 Digital Banking: Does Q2 replace our core banking system?

No. It is the digital channel layer that sits over your existing core and integrates with the major US core providers.

Increase: Who holds the deposits?

Partner banks, not Increase itself. That relationship determines your programme approval, your compliance obligations and your risk if the bank changes appetite.

Q2 Digital Banking: What is Innovation Studio?

A marketplace and SDK that lets a bank enable partner applications or build its own features without waiting for Q2 to develop them.

Increase: Is it international?

No. Increase covers United States rails only, so cross border payouts require a second provider.

Q2 Digital Banking: Is it available outside the United States?

Not meaningfully. The platform is built around US banking rails, regulation and institution types.

Increase: How is it different from a middleware BaaS platform?

It exposes the rails rather than abstracting them, showing real return codes and settlement timing. That suits teams who understand payments and punishes teams who do not.

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