Fintech API for payroll-connected data

A fintech API is a set of programmatic endpoints that let an application connect to external financial data or infrastructure — such as bank accounts, payroll systems, or credit bureaus — instead of building and maintaining those connections directly.

Pinwheel is a fintech API that connects applications to a user's payroll account, supporting direct deposit switching, income and employment verification, paystub and tax form retrieval, and bill switching through one integration.

A user authenticates into their payroll account through Pinwheel Link. Pinwheel then reads or updates their direct deposit allocation on their behalf, so part or all of a paycheck can be routed to a new account without a manual form.

Verification of Employment (VOE) confirms job status alone. Verification of Income and Employment (VOIE) confirms both status and earnings. Pinwheel generates both directly from payroll and paystub data.

Pinwheel connects to a network of 1,800+ payroll providers and employer platforms, and exposes lookup and search endpoints so you can check coverage before routing a user into a connection flow.

Pinwheel uses scoped API keys, webhook-based event delivery, and a permissioned consent flow through Pinwheel Link, so users explicitly authorize each connection and applications only receive the data they've been granted.

Yes. Pinwheel's shifts endpoint returns shift-level hours, timestamps, and itemized earnings, which earned wage access and pay-by-paycheck apps use to calculate how much a user has already earned but not yet been paid, so they can advance a safe amount ahead of payday.

Pay-by-paycheck describes any feature that acts on a single pay cycle rather than a user's broader account history — splitting one paycheck across several accounts, or advancing wages already earned within the current cycle. Pinwheel supports both through direct deposit allocations and shift-level earnings data.

Yes. Pinwheel's direct deposit allocations model supports multiple destination accounts per paycheck, each with its own allocation type — a fixed amount, a percentage, or remainder for whatever is left after higher-priority allocations are filled — funded in a defined priority order.

Pinwheel's direct deposit allocations endpoint returns a user's current allocations straight from payroll — each destination account, allocation type, amount or percentage, and when it was last updated — so a fintech can verify the new split is active rather than assuming it succeeded.

Yes. Pinwheel's shift data covers hourly, overtime, and gig-style earnings such as delivery and rideshare work, so pay-by-paycheck and earned wage access features can support variable-income workers, not only salaried employees on a fixed schedule.

Pinwheel's payroll connectivity is used across national banks, credit unions, fintechs, wealth managers, lenders, and cryptocurrency exchanges. Publicly disclosed users of Pinwheel's direct deposit switching include neobanks Robinhood, MoneyLion, XMoney, Varo Bank, Perpay, Credit Karma, River and Current.

Direct deposit switching is Pinwheel's most widely deployed capability, but the same payroll connections also power income and employment verification, paystub and tax form retrieval, and earned wage access. Pinwheel is also a preferred referral partner for other fintech infrastructure providers, including Plaid, for switching and income use cases.