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View detailsA bank built from source code
Column is not a legacy bank that added an API. It is a nationally chartered bank — Column N.A., Member FDIC — built from the ground up as infrastructure for other companies. Founded in 2021 after acquiring Northern California National Bank, Column holds a national bank charter and operates as both the technology platform and the regulated entity. Unlike most fintech partnerships where one company provides the software and another provides the charter, Column is both.
Routing number
Column N.A. uses a single routing number for all transactions: 121145307. This applies to ACH origination, direct deposits, and wire transfers. Because Column operates as a single nationally chartered entity without a history of acquisitions, there are no state-specific routing numbers. Column's SWIFT code for incoming international wires is available through their developer documentation. Businesses using Column's API can retrieve routing and account details programmatically rather than looking them up manually.
Who uses Column and why it matters
Column powers the banking infrastructure behind companies like Slash, Brex, and other fintech platforms. When you hold deposits at a company that banks with Column, your funds are held at Column N.A. and are FDIC-insured through their charter. Column's sweep network extends that coverage across 800+ partner banks, providing protection well beyond the standard $250,000 per depositor.
This infrastructure-bank model is becoming the backbone of modern business banking. Instead of each fintech negotiating with a legacy bank for a partnership, Column provides the charter, the compliance framework, the payment rails, and the API — letting companies like Slash focus on building the best possible experience for their customers.
Ledger-native banking
Column is built on a ledger-native architecture. Every account, transaction, and balance is tracked through a real-time double-entry ledger accessible via API. Businesses building on Column can create virtual accounts, sub-accounts, and complex money movement workflows without the batch-processing delays that characterize legacy core banking systems. For ACH and wire transfers, this translates to faster settlement visibility — Column can reflect pending transactions in real time even while the underlying ACH network processes in batches.
How Slash builds on Column
Slash's business banking platform is powered by Column N.A. When you open a Slash account, your deposits are held at Column and FDIC-insured through Column's sweep network. Every ACH payment, wire transfer, and card transaction you initiate through Slash flows through Column's infrastructure. This is why Slash can offer real-time payment tracking, instant virtual cards, and seamless accounting integrations — the underlying bank was built for exactly this kind of programmatic interaction. The result is a business banking experience that feels modern because the bank behind it actually is modern, not a 50-year-old core banking system with an API wrapper bolted on top.
