For community banks and credit unions, winning primacy has never been more important or more contested. New data from Pinwheel's 2026 Consumer Banking Sentiment Study makes the stakes unmistakably clear: 89% of consumers name a single institution as their primary bank, and that status is almost always defined by one thing — where direct deposit lands.
Today, we're thrilled to announce that Pinwheel Deposit Switch with PreMatch is now available to all 1,300+ financial institutions on Candescent's account opening and onboarding platform. This expanded integration puts one of the industry's highest-performing direct deposit switch technology directly into the hands of community lenders with no enterprise-scale IT lift required.
Case Study: EECU improves direct deposit conversion 50% with Pinwheel
Tackling today’s primacy problem for financial institutions
Pinwheel’s 2026 Consumer Banking Sentiment Study confirms what many institutions already sense: national banks dominate primacy (55%), while community banks (15%), credit unions (17%), and fintechs (12%) compete for the rest. And among the most coveted high-income households earning $200–$250k, national banks command a striking 67% primary bank share.
The advantage national banks have held for years isn't loyalty — it's friction elimination. Their massive technology budgets have allowed them to make direct deposit switching effortless at account opening, turning new accounts into funded, active relationships almost immediately.
How do consumers define their primary bank? For many years running, respondents to this study consistently describe primacy with “where I receive my direct deposit,” followed closely by “where I receive my direct deposit and pay the majority of my bills.”
Beyond driving deposit growth and primacy, capturing direct deposit gives financial institutions visibility into cash-flow patterns and critical insights for delivering more personalized support, timely financial guidance, and relevant cross-sell opportunities. As the primary financial relationship deepens, banks and credit unions can create stickier, more comprehensive customer relationships built around the customer's full financial life.
Historically, it has been difficult for community institutions to compete on this field. Today, reality looks very different.
Candescent + Pinwheel are closing the technology gap
Pinwheel first partnered with Candescent by integrating with Terafina in 2024 to bring Direct Deposit Switch to a subset of Candescent's platform customers. The results validated what we knew: reducing friction at the moment of account opening is the single most powerful lever for improving first-year ROI on digitally acquired accounts.
With this expanded integration, every one of Candescent's 1,300+ financial institution customers now have access to Pinwheel's full Deposit Switch suite, including PreMatch, the industry's most advanced, credential-less switching technology.
Here's what that means in practice:
- Embedded, guided experience: Account holders switch direct deposit without ever leaving your banking app — during onboarding or any time in digital account management.
- PreMatch technology: Auto-identifies active payroll records from data already captured during account opening. No credentials. No friction. Switches completed in seconds with a simple MFA step.
- 2x conversion rates: Pinwheel Deposit Switch with PreMatch delivers double the conversion of prior-generation direct deposit switch experiences.
- Rapid deployment: Available now for Candescent customers with minimal integration effort — no large technology project required.
The differentiation in the Pinwheel experience made possible by the direct connections with payroll providers puts them in a class of their own for performance.
Meriwest Is Live With Pinwheel via Candescent
See Pinwheel in action — join us for a live demo
Candescent and Pinwheel are hosting a webinar on Tuesday, July 8, 2026 at 1PM EST. Join us and learn how to activate Pinwheel Deposit Switch within your Candescent Intelligent Banking platform and start converting digital acquired accounts into funded, primary relationships.
If your institution runs Candescent's account opening or onboarding solutions, you now have on-demand access to the same deposit switch technology that powers primacy for American Express, KeyBank, Robinhood and many more of the world's most innovative financial providers.
Consumer banking sentiment research is unambiguous — account primacy is still up for grabs; the direct deposit relationship defines it, and institutions that make switching fast and effortless win. National banks have understood this for years, but now, community banks and credit unions can compete on equal terms.
Pinwheel Deposit Switch with PreMatch is live and available for all Candescent customers today. The institutions that move first will build the funded account pipelines — and the deep consumer relationships — that define growth for the next decade.