What does KYC and AML compliance actually involve?

KYC requires verifying the identity of every account applicant before they can deposit money. AML requires monitoring transactions for patterns consistent with money laundering and filing Suspicious Activity Reports where thresholds are met. Both must be operational before the first account is opened, not after the first regulator question.

Which BaaS provider should we use?

That depends on your product type, your target customer, and which features you need on day one. Unit suits consumer and business neobanks with strong developer tooling. Column offers more flexibility for complex products. We help you evaluate options during discovery rather than recommending one before understanding your requirements.

Can you integrate with Plaid for account linking?

Yes. Plaid integration for external account linking, balance verification, and ACH initiation is a standard component of most neobank builds. We confirm which Plaid products your use case requires during discovery and include the integration in the base scope.

How is this different from your Banking industry page?

The Banking industry page covers traditional banks and credit unions modernizing their existing systems. This page is for founders building a digital-first banking product from scratch, covering the BaaS infrastructure, the compliance architecture, and the cost of building a neobank.

Digital Banking & Neobank App Development

Traditional banks have given the digital banking market its opportunity by making the everyday banking experience as friction-filled as possible. A neobank wins not by offering more financial products but by making the products it does offer feel effortless: an account opened in minutes rather than days, a debit card that arrives before the weekend, and a balance that updates the moment a transaction settles rather than the next morning.

The infrastructure challenge is what most neobank founders underestimate. An account that holds money is not a database field — it is a regulated liability sitting on a bank’s balance sheet, connected to a payment network that settles transactions in real time, covered by FDIC insurance, and subject to BSA and AML obligations that apply from the first dollar deposited. Building the app is the easy part. Building the infrastructure underneath it correctly is what determines whether the neobank actually operates.

01

Account and Card Management

Account opening, balance and transaction view, debit card management, spending controls, and the real-time notifications that make a banking app feel alive rather than lagging a day behind.

02

BaaS and Core Banking Integration

Connecting your app to a Banking-as-a-Service provider for FDIC-insured accounts, card issuance, ACH, and payment rail access — the infrastructure layer without which there is no neobank.

03

Payments and Money Movement

ACH transfers, wire payments, P2P money movement, bill pay, and external account linking through Plaid, with transaction status that updates in real time rather than the following business day.

A personal banking platform with FDIC-insured accounts, a debit card, spending categorisation, and the budgeting and savings tools that make a challenger bank worth switching to from an incumbent.

A banking product for small and medium businesses, with multi-user accounts, role-based permissions, ACH and wire initiation, expense management, and accounting software integration.

A banking product built for a specific demographic, profession, or community, with account features and financial tools tailored to the financial patterns and needs of that group.

A customer who uses Chime or Cash App as their primary account arrives at a new neobank with a baseline that traditional banks have been unable to set. Account opening that takes less than five minutes. Instant transaction notifications the moment a card is used. A balance that is accurate right now rather than reflecting yesterday’s settlement. Direct deposit that posts two days early. Missing any of those is not a minor product gap — it is the reason they have not switched from where they already bank.

The compliance layer is what most neobank founders treat as a post-launch problem and almost always regret. KYC identity verification at account opening is required before a customer can deposit a dollar. Transaction monitoring for AML is a BSA obligation that applies to every account from day one. The SAR filing process has to exist and work correctly before regulators look for it. We design the compliance architecture before the first account feature is built, not after the first examiner’s question.

05 features

Digital account opening with KYC verification
Real-time balance and transaction feed
Debit card controls and instant freeze
ACH transfers and external account linking
Spending insights and savings tools

Core account, debit card, and payment features on a single BaaS provider with KYC and basic AML. These typically fall in the high five-figure range and take sixteen to twenty-four weeks.

Complete neobank with savings, P2P transfers, budgeting, external account linking, and advanced compliance tooling. These approach or exceed the six-figure range with a twenty to twenty-eight week build.

Business accounts with multi-user permissions, wire capabilities, expense management, and accounting integration. These sit in the six-figure range and are scoped individually due to integration complexity.

These are market ranges, not fixed quotes. We give you an itemized number after a short discovery call.

01Discovery

We map your target customer, your BaaS provider options, your compliance obligations, and your monetisation model before any design decisions are made.

02Design

We prototype the account opening flow and the core banking experience before development starts, testing the KYC handoff and the transaction notification timing specifically.

03Development

We build in sprints with regular check-ins, with BaaS integration and compliance tooling built alongside the customer-facing app rather than after it.

04Testing

Every build is tested against the BaaS sandbox with real transaction scenarios before release so payment flows and compliance logic are validated before real money moves.

We build neobank apps in React Native for iOS and Android. The backend runs on Node.js with PostgreSQL for ledger and account data, with Redis for real-time transaction state. BaaS integration connects to Unit, Column, Synctera, or Treasury Prime depending on your product requirements and partner bank relationships. External account linking uses Plaid. Payments and card management go through the BaaS provider’s APIs. All infrastructure runs in a SOC 2-compliant cloud environment.

React Native
TypeScript
JavaScript
Node.js
PostgreSQL
Redis
Plaid
Unit
GraphQL
AWS
SOC 2
Card Issuance

01

BaaS Integration Before Interface Design

02

KYC and AML Compliance From Account One

03

Real-Time Transaction Architecture

04

Support Through Every Regulatory And BaaS Change

A neobank with slow transaction updates or a KYC flow that drops customers at verification loses both the account and the trust. We build the compliance and the real-time infrastructure first, because those are what the product is actually judged on.

A neobank with slow transaction updates or a KYC flow that drops customers at verification loses both the account and the trust. We build the compliance and the real-time infrastructure first, because those are what the product is actually judged on.

A neobank with slow transaction updates or a KYC flow that drops customers at verification loses both the account and the trust. We build the compliance and the real-time infrastructure first, because those are what the product is actually judged on.

A neobank with slow transaction updates or a KYC flow that drops customers at verification loses both the account and the trust. We build the compliance and the real-time infrastructure first, because those are what the product is actually judged on.

01

BaaS Integration Before Interface Design

02

KYC and AML Compliance From Account One

03

Real-Time Transaction Architecture

04

Support Through Every Regulatory And BaaS Change

In most cases, no. Banking-as-a-Service providers including Unit, Column, Synctera, and Treasury Prime allow you to offer FDIC-insured accounts and debit cards through a partner bank without holding your own charter. You still have BSA compliance obligations from day one, and legal counsel is essential before selecting a BaaS partner.

Digital Banking Neobank
App Development

Why The Digital Banking Market Needs The Right App