Before Across, we built Machnet — a Payment-as-a-Service platform designed to empower small and medium-sized enterprises to launch their own cross-border money transfer apps in the U.S.
With just a single API, our customers could tap into a fully integrated stack of compliance, banking, and payments infrastructure. It was a powerful proposition. We raised $1.7 million in funding and were well on our way to achieving a projected $1 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).
But one challenge proved insurmountable: obtaining and maintaining the right sponsoring financial institution (FI) partners.
Big banks were prohibitively expensive. On the other end, most Money Service Businesses (MSBs) were restricted by state regulators from engaging in the kind of programs we supported. We found a potential sweet spot in small community banks and credit unions. Many were eager to innovate and diversify their offerings through fintech partnerships like ours.
However, enthusiasm didn’t translate into execution.
Onboarding with smaller financial institutions proved to be a significant challenge. Many of these institutions lacked the resources and expertise needed to manage third-party fintech programs effectively. Operating with limited staff, they struggled to balance multiple priorities, and their restricted resources made it difficult to invest in the infrastructure, technology, and specialized skills required to support fintech partnerships.
Regulatory compliance posed another major hurdle. Banks must ensure that their fintech partnerships comply with a wide array of regulations, such as anti-money laundering (AML) laws, data privacy laws, and evolving fintech-specific regulations. For smaller institutions, navigating these regulatory complexities proved to be both time-consuming and costly.
Risk management was equally challenging. Smaller banks had to carefully assess and mitigate risks associated with fintech partnerships, including operational, compliance, and reputational risks. This necessitated the development of robust risk management systems and proper oversight of third-party operations—resources that many smaller institutions lacked.
After waiting for over a year, we started hearing the same message again and again:
"We can’t onboard you at this time."
By then, we had burned significant capital, and we were left with no active FI partners to sponsor our platform.
It was a hard lesson, but also a clear one:
Small banks and credit unions want to work with fintechs, but they lack the tools, resources, and confidence to manage third-party program risk.
That’s why we started Across.
Our mission is to make risk management for fintech partnerships so easy, accessible, and reliable that every financial institution can confidently scale third-party programs—without needing specialized teams or complex tools.
We're here so that what happened to Machnet doesn't happen to the next wave of fintech innovators — and so that community-based institutions don't have to sit on the sidelines of innovation anymore.
