Embedded-finance provider tracked in the Embedded Finance Index — disclosed by 5 companies across 1 category.
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Founded 2018 by ex-Luxe operators trying to build a pre-tax benefits startup — they pivoted after hitting a wall connecting to payroll systems, deciding the payroll-API primitive itself was the more valuable business. Positioned as 'Plaid for payroll,' Pinwheel became the dominant direct-deposit-switch layer for neobanks (Varo, Block/Cash App, Current). Since 2023 the company has rebranded from a raw payroll API into a 'primacy partner' for banks and credit unions, moving upmarket into community banks and CUs and layering bill switch, income/tax verification, and paycheck-linked lending on top of the deposit switch core.
Other Unified Payroll/HRIS providers in the index, by the number of companies that disclose them. A count of public disclosures, not a ranking of the products.
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alt="Ranked #7 of 23 in Unified Payroll/HRIS — Embedded Finance Index 2026">
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<img src="https://www.embeddedfinanceindex.com/api/badge/pinwheel/install" width="1" height="1" alt="" style="display:none">5 companies are linked to Pinwheel in the Embedded Finance Index 2026, through their own public disclosures or Pinwheel's published customer list, including LendAPI, Perpay, Google Pixel, Lendly and Motorola.
Pinwheel is an embedded-finance provider in Unified Payroll/HRIS. It ranks #7 of 23 Unified Payroll/HRIS providers by linked companies.
The most-named Unified Payroll/HRIS alternatives to Pinwheel are Finch (48 buyers), Apideck (9 buyers), Argyle (8 buyers), Atomic (7 buyers), Remote (7 buyers) and Merge (6 buyers).
Pinwheel was founded by Kurt Lin, Anish Basu and Curtis Lee and is founded in 2018, headquartered in New York, NY, USA.
Pinwheel has raised $77M+ in total.
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