Stripe’s first employee, the founder of fintech Increase, sort of bought a bank
Darragh Buckley, the astute founder and CEO of fintech startup Increase and notably Stripe’s first employee, has successfully acquired a significant stake in Twin City Bank, a small community bank located in Longview, Washington. This strategic move, which has been an open secret in the fintech world for years, involved purchasing over 10% of the bank’s shares, triggering a public disclosure by the Federal Reserve Board and requiring FDIC approval, which Buckley has now received.
Buckley confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch, although he declined to specify the exact size of his stake. While he is not the sole owner, holding upwards of 10% establishes him as a major shareholder. The industry had widely speculated that this acquisition was intended to bolster the ambitions of Increase, Buckley’s banking-as-a-service (BaaS) startup.
Increase provides an API platform enabling programmatic financial services like automated clearing house (ACH) transactions, wires, and real-time payments. Its clientele primarily consists of other fintech innovators such as Ramp, Check, and Pipe. Buckley’s reputation as a highly respected engineer, stemming from his early days at Stripe, has even led some BaaS competitors to refer business to Increase when their own capacities are stretched.
Typically, fintechs like Increase partner with FDIC-insured banks to offer regulated services, as obtaining banking licenses is a complex and costly endeavor. Increase currently collaborates with Grasshopper Bank and First Internet Bank of Indiana. However, the fiercely competitive BaaS market has seen a growing trend where a select few fintechs bypass traditional partnerships by directly acquiring small community banks. Notable examples include William Hockey’s Column, which acquired Northern California National Bank, and Lead Bank, led by former Block executives Jackie Reses and Ronak Vyas.
Curiously, Buckley’s acquisition faced unexpected opposition. A mysterious entity, presumed to be a competitor, went as far as hiring an agency to plant negative stories about Buckley and the deal in the press. Despite the industry’s assumptions, Buckley asserts that his intentions for Twin City Bank are not aligned with turning it into Increase’s dedicated partner bank. He clarified that this is, in fact, his third investment in a Washington community bank, and his interests lie in supporting these vital institutions.
“Twin City Bank is, and will remain, a community-focused bank,” Buckley stated. He emphasized that sponsor banking—the practice of partnering with fintechs—requires specialized capabilities and robust supervision, which Twin City Bank is not intended to provide. He cautioned against the dangers of ill-equipped fintech partnerships, citing recent issues faced by Evolve Bank, a major fintech partner, which dealt with a significant ransomware attack in 2024 and a cease-and-desist order from the Federal Reserve due to risk management deficiencies, alongside its association with the collapse of BaaS startup Synapse.
Buckley expressed his affinity for community banks, viewing them as the “underdogs” of the banking world. “There’s perhaps a prevalent view in the financial technology industry that community banks can’t grow on their own. But community banks’ strength is their relationships and knowledge,” he explained. With the FDIC’s “non-objection for control” approval secured, the deal is now closed, marking a significant, and perhaps unconventional, chapter for both Buckley and the future of community banking.
