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APIs · head to head

Method Financial vs Solaris

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
Solaris logo

Solaris

APIs

German banking as a service with a full banking licence and a live regulatory problem

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Solaris baFin appointed a special representative in 2022 and extended the mandate in July 2024, so a partner is joining a bank under active supervisory monitoring, with slower approvals and heavier compliance demands as a direct consequence.
  • They diverge on capability: Method Financial covers Identity-based account resolution, Solaris covers German banking licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Method Financial and Solaris differ
AttributeMethod FinancialSolaris
PlatformsWebWeb, API

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 Method Financial

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

Only in Solaris

  • German banking licence
  • IBAN accounts
  • Card issuing
  • Lending as a service
  • Digital assets and custody
  • SEPA payments
  • KYC and onboarding
  • Deposit protection

What people use each for

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

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 Solaris
  • A credit card refinancing product that must send funds directly to the cards being paid off rather than to the consumernot Solaris
  • A personal finance application that wants an accurate debt picture including auto and student loans that deposit-account aggregation does not shownot Solaris
  • A credit union offering balance transfer where the application drop-off from credentialed linking is the main constraint on volumenot Solaris

Solaris

  • A retailer or platform launching a German current account or card product without applying for its own licencenot Method Financial
  • A fintech that needs deposit taking and lending, which an e-money licence cannot providenot Method Financial
  • A European business needing German IBANs because customers reject foreign IBANs for salary and direct debitnot Method Financial
  • A company requiring German statutory deposit protection on customer balances as a product claimnot Method Financial

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Solaris

  • BaFin appointed a special representative in 2022 and extended the mandate in July 2024, so a partner is joining a bank under active supervisory monitoring, with slower approvals and heavier compliance demands as a direct consequence.
  • BaFin fined Solaris EUR 6.5 million in March 2024 for systematically late suspicious activity reports and EUR 500,000 for breaching large exposure limits between January 2022 and March 2024, which is a track record a partner inherits reputationally.
  • Solaris has previously needed BaFin approval before onboarding new corporate clients, which can turn a commercial decision to launch into a regulatory timetable outside your control.
  • The 2024 restructuring involved job cuts and the closure of parts of a business unit, so product lines a partner depends on may not have the engineering behind them that the sales process implies.
  • SBI Holdings acquired majority control in 2025, so strategic direction now sits with a Japanese financial group whose priorities for the European business may differ from the roadmap you were sold.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Solaris

On request
  • Solaris banking as a service$undefined/year
    • Quoted per partner, typically setup fee plus monthly platform fee
    • Per account, per card and per transaction charges on top
    • Interchange sharing arrangements negotiated per programme

Which should you pick?

Choose Method Financial if

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

Choose Solaris if

  • You need german banking licence.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want iban accounts.
Solaris review

Questions people ask

Is Method Financial or Solaris better?
Neither clearly leads. Method Financial starts at On request and Solaris at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Method Financial or Solaris?
Method Financial starts at On request and Solaris at On request.
Does Method Financial or Solaris run on more platforms?
Method Financial runs on Web. Solaris runs on Web, API.
What is Method Financial best used for?
Method Financial is most often used for a debt consolidation lender that needs every card balance and payoff quote for an applicant without asking them to log into each issuer, a credit card refinancing product that must send funds directly to the cards being paid off rather than to the consumer, a personal finance application that wants an accurate debt picture including auto and student loans that deposit-account aggregation does not show, a credit union offering balance transfer where the application drop-off from credentialed linking is the main constraint on volume. Of those, a debt consolidation lender that needs every card balance and payoff quote for an applicant without asking them to log into each issuer and a credit card refinancing product that must send funds directly to the cards being paid off rather than to the consumer are not what Solaris is typically brought in for.
What can Method Financial do that Solaris cannot?
Method Financial covers Identity-based account resolution, Liability data, Payoff quotes, Direct card payoff. Solaris covers German banking licence, IBAN accounts, Card issuing, Lending as a service.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Solaris: Does Solaris have a real banking licence?

Yes. Solaris SE is a German credit institution, which is why it can offer deposits and lending, unlike e-money based competitors.

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.

Solaris: Is the BaFin action still live?

The special representative appointed in 2022 had the mandate extended in July 2024, and fines were issued in March 2024. Treat supervisory oversight as an active condition in your diligence.

Method Financial: What does it cost?

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

Solaris: Who owns Solaris now?

SBI Holdings of Japan agreed in December 2024 and January 2025 to take a majority stake of over seventy per cent for around EUR 100 million.

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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