About LEAD
Lead Bank is a state-chartered, FDIC-insured bank operating a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform that provides programmable financial infrastructure for the world's top fintechs and digital asset companies. Founded in 1928 as a community bank, it was acquired in 2022 by a management team led by CEO Jackie Reses for $56 million and retooled into a technology-first BaaS platform. Core capabilities span lending (term loans, lines of credit), card issuing (debit, prepaid, credit on Visa/Mastercard/Amex), money movement (ACH, wire, SWIFT, internal transfers, stablecoin transfers), and FDIC-insured deposit accounts. Notably, Lead Bank is the bank partner powering Stripe and Visa's stablecoin-linked payment card platform through Bridge. Lead Bank is PCI-DSS compliant, SOC 1 Type 1, SOC 2 Type 2, and ISO 27001 certified as a regulated financial institution. In September 2025, Lead Bank closed a $70 million Series B funding round at a $1.47 billion valuation, with participation from ICONIQ, Greycroft, Ribbit Capital, Coatue, Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and Zeev Ventures. Sacra estimates Lead Bank generated $124 million in adjusted revenue in 2025 (up 65% YoY), with $4.5 billion in stablecoin-linked card spend across cards from Phantom, MetaMask, and Coinbase Wallet. The company has been recognized on the Forbes Fintech 50 list for four consecutive years (2023-2026) and was named to CNBC's Disruptors 50 in 2024 and 2025.
Key Infrastructure
Card Issuing Platform
Issue virtual and physical debit, prepaid, or credit cards on Visa, Mastercard, and Amex networks with flexible BIN sponsorship and bring-your-own-processor options.
Stablecoin Card Program
Bank partner for Stripe, Bridge, and Visa's stablecoin-linked card platform, enabling fintechs like Phantom and MetaMask to offer stablecoin-backed spending to millions of users.
Lending Infrastructure
Originate and disburse term loans and lines of credit for consumer and commercial borrowers, supporting flexible structures including buy-now-pay-later and interest-based lending.
Money Movement Rails
Direct connection to the Federal Reserve for ACH (same-day and next-day), FedWire, SWIFT, internal transfers, and stablecoin transfers with real-time settlement capabilities.
FDIC-Insured Accounts
Open FDIC-insured checking and savings accounts for end customers with multiple virtual account numbers per account, FBO structures, and pass-through insurance coverage.
Crypto On/Off Ramp
Dedicated crypto solution providing bank accounts and payment rails for users to move fiat between bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets with virtual account number reconciliation.
Additional Features
Composable API Design
Modular API building blocks let partners assemble lending, transfers, cards, and accounts individually or together to create custom financial products.
Multiple Card Networks
Principal member of Visa, Mastercard, and Amex networks, offering partners choice of card brand and support for consumer and commercial card programs.
Real-Time Transfer Status
Programmatic webhook updates on ACH, wire, and internal transfer status including returns, reversals, rejections, and corrections for automated reconciliation.
Virtual Account Numbers
Create multiple virtual account numbers mapped to a single master account with different permissions and limits for simplified payment reconciliation.
Push-to-Card Capability
Send funds directly to debit or prepaid cards using Original Credit Transfer (OCT) functionality for instant disbursements to end users.
Multi-Currency Support
Support for international wire transfers via SWIFT connecting to over 11,000 institutions in more than 200 countries for global money movement.
