Why Grasshopper wants to own more than your bank account

A few years ago, the problem was getting startups access to capital. Today, the problem is what to do with the capital they already have.

Higher interest rates, lingering memories of the regional banking crisis, and growing pressure on finance teams to maximize every dollar have changed how businesses think about cash. That dynamic, in turn, is forcing banks to find ways to keep customer cash from moving off-platform and into higher-yield alternatives.

Grasshopper Bank’s new treasury management offering, developed with investment advisor Waldo, is the latest example. The product allows businesses to move excess cash into treasury portfolios directly from the bank’s platform rather than sending those funds to brokerages, money market funds, or separate treasury providers.

This also raises a broader question across business banking: if companies increasingly want banking, cash management, liquidity planning, and investing in one place, where does banking end and treasury management begin?

I spoke with Rob Burnett, Director of Startup Banking at Grasshopper, about why treasury has become a strategic priority, how startup cash behavior has changed since the banking crisis, and why the next phase of competition among digital banks may revolve around owning the entire cash-management workflow rather than just the checking account.