> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.straddle.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Welcome to Straddle

> Get started with Straddle's APIs for ACH and bank payments, identity verification, and embedded platforms. Find guides, references, and integration tools.

Straddle is a unified platform for building modern account-to-account payment experiences. \
\
Onboard and verify customers, connect to their accounts, and get paid faster. Trade in your messy payments stack for Straddle – where everything is built to work together.

## Core Functionality

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Identity First" icon="id-card">
    Onboard and verify individual or business customers in less than a second using with Straddle Identity, a graph-defined identity engine built-in to your Straddle account.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Powered by Open Banking" icon="building-columns">
    Connect customer identity to open banking data via Bridge, Straddle's "no-code" widget, or use existing tokens from providers like Mastercard (Finicity), Plaid, and MX.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Pay by Bank" icon="shield-check">
    All payments are protected with built-in balance confirmation and real-time fraud detection through Watchtower, Straddle's transaction monitoring risk engine.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Faster Money Movement" icon="bolt">
    24-hour direct debit funding, with payouts via dynamic multi-rail orchestration across ACH, RTP, and FedNow (coming soon).
  </Card>

  <Card title="Compliant by Default" icon="clipboard-check">
    Integrated KYC, watchlist screening, and transaction monitoring ensure robust compliance without engineering overhead
  </Card>

  <Card title="Built for you" icon="code">
    A single, secure API stack that simplifies complex infrastructure into easy-to-implement code.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How Does It Work?

Here's a high-level overview of how Straddle works:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a customer">
    Use Straddle's API to create a [customer](/guides/identity/customers) profile. Straddle automatically scores multi-dimensional risk and compliance signals.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect to their account">
    [Bridge](/guides/bridge/overview) connects your application to the banking network. This can be done through Straddle's drop-in [widget](/guides/bridge/widget) or by using existing tokens from supported providers like [Plaid](/guides/bridge/plaid-token), MX, and Finicity.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Get a token">
    Once a bank account is connected, a [paykey](/guides/bridge/paykeys) is created and returned to your application. A paykey is a secure token linking the verified identity to the bank account. This is actually pretty cool technology: [learn more](/guides/resources/waldo).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pay by bank">
    Use the paykey to initiate charges or payouts through Straddle's API, benefiting from built-in balance verification and fraud prevention. Returning customers skip right to this step!
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Core Products

Straddle offers several core products that are designed to work together:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Identity" icon="id-card">
    Straddle [Identity](/guides/identity/overview) is the foundation of our platform, providing robust customer management and identity verification features:

    * Instant onboarding and verification of individual or business customers
    * Utilizes Straddle ID, a graph-defined identity engine
    * Integrated KYC and AML compliance checks
    * Manages customer profiles, including contact information and payment preferences
    * Real-time fraud detection through Watchtower, our transaction monitoring risk engine
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Bridge" icon="bridge">
    Straddle [Bridge](/guides/bridge/overview) is our account connectivity suite that securely links users to their financial accounts:

    * Offers a drop-in open banking [widget](/guides/bridge/widget) connecting to 90% of US bank accounts
    * Supports existing third-party tokens from providers like [Plaid](/guides/bridge/plaid-token), MX, and Mastercard (Finicity)
    * Provides API-based [bank account](/guides/bridge/bank-account) verification for "out of network" banks
    * Generates [Paykeys](/guides/bridge/paykeys), secure tokens linking verified identities to payment methods
    * Enables balance checks and account information retrieval

    <Info>
      Bridge also supports manual entry of routing and account numbers. This feature is particularly useful for existing customers or in situations where an open-banking connection isn't possible. It ensures that you can create Paykeys and process payments even when direct bank connectivity isn't available or preferred.
    </Info>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Pay by Bank" icon="credit-card">
    Straddle [Pay by Bank](/guides/paybybank) is our unified payment processing solution:

    * Uses [Paykeys](/guides/bridge/paykeys) generated by [Bridge](/guides/bridge/overview) to initiate charges or payouts
    * Supports various payment rails including ACH, RTP, and FedNow (coming soon)
    * Provides built-in fraud detection and compliance checks for all transactions
    * Enables 24-hour direct debits with built-in balance and risk scoring
    * Offers a simple API for initiating and managing payments
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Embed" icon="puzzle-piece">
    Straddle [Embed](/guides/embed/overview) is our solution for platforms, allowing them to offer Straddle's capabilities to their own users:

    * Purpose-built API stack for software providers, marketplaces, and payment facilitators
    * Allows platforms to extend and monetize Straddle's payments infrastructure
    * Provides white-label solutions for identity verification, account linking, and payment processing
    * Handles regulatory compliance, reducing liability for platforms
    * Offers flexible integration options to suit various platform architectures
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

These core products work seamlessly together, enabling you to quickly implement sophisticated payment functionality, reduce fraud, and provide a seamless experience for your users.