Sponsor Bank Selection Becomes Product Decision

Column winning both Mercury and Brex shows that sponsor bank selection has become a product decision, not just a compliance vendor choice. These are large, fast moving fintechs that need a bank partner that can open accounts, move money, issue cards, and handle oversight through one API stack. Once migrations started away from older partners, Column became the direct bank layer under two of the biggest U.S. fintech banking products.

• Mercury publicly said on March 12, 2025 that it was transitioning away from Evolve and now works with Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Patriot Bank. That move followed Evolve Bank & Trust receiving a Federal Reserve consent cease and desist order announced on June 14, 2024.
  2 mercury 4 federalreserve 6 sacra
• Brex now lists Column N.A. as the bank providing checking and banking services on its website. Internally, Brex and Mercury became the anchor accounts in Column’s neobank model, helping drive Column to an estimated $55.1M of 2024 revenue, with roughly half from deposits and half from interchange and API fees.
  1 sacra 5 sacra 7 brex
• This is different from Lead Bank’s model. Column is concentrated in deposit and card driven neobanks like Mercury and Brex, while Lead Bank is more lending heavy, with 68% of 2024 revenue tied to interest from programs like Affirm BNPL and working capital. The split shows two versions of the modern charter plus API bank.
  3 sacra 5 sacra

Going forward, more fintechs are likely to collapse the old middleware stack and move toward banks that own both the charter and the software. That favors Column in deposit, payments, and card programs, and pushes Lead Bank to keep deepening its position in lending led fintech infrastructure.