Blue Ridge Bankshares has named a president of its fintech division.
On Tuesday the Charlottesville, Virginia, bank announced that Kirsten Muetzel would oversee its fintech practice, which involves managing the bank's partners, ensuring regulatory compliance and furthering its banking-as-a-service strategy.
Kirsten Muetzel, the new president of Blue Ridge Bank's fintech division, spent a decade in the Federal Reserve system, including supervising banks in banking-as-a-service relationships.
Previously, Muetzel spent a decade in the Federal Reserve system, including supervising banks in BaaS partnerships, and has served as a chief financial officer and chief risk officer for fintech companies.
"She brings the perfect combination of banking supervision experience coupled with fintech industry knowledge and business acumen," said Brian Plum, chief executive officer of the $2.9 billion-asset Blue Ridge Bank, in a press release. "Kirsten will be instrumental as we continue building the necessary infrastructure to support current partnerships while preparing the foundation upon which to build future success."
The bank has run into trouble with regulators before. It had to delay its merger with FVCBankcorp in 2021 after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency raised concerns and called off the deal in early 2022. In September, a securities filing revealed that the OCC required Blue Ridge Bank to make several changes. It must obtain a non-objection from the OCC before it signs any contracts with new fintech partners or adds new products with its existing partners, refine the ways it complies with the Bank Secrecy Act, and explain how it will improve its monitoring of suspicious activity.
One possible trigger behind this enforcement action: the dissolution of Aeldra Financial, a company that partnered with Blue Ridge to offer U.S. bank accounts to non-U.S. citizens in India. The company ceased operations in August, and various members of Blue Ridge's board of directors signed the agreement with the OCC one week later.
The online consumer lender beat revenue expectations in the first quarter, but its net income was dragged down by larger provisions that the company attributed to tariff "uncertainty."
The card processor came up short on expected profits but hit analysts' estimates on revenue in the second quarter of its fiscal 2025. CEO Ryan McInerney said growth in payments volume, cross-border volume and processed transactions were strong even in the face of shaky economic conditions.
At a House subcommittee hearing, Republicans proposed "tailoring" regulations for community banks while Democrats railed against Trump's tariffs and cuts to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., urged the National Credit Union Administration's Inspector general to look into President Trump's removal of two board members.
Rapid deregulation, tariffs and a campaign to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have defined the early days of President Donald Trump's second term for bankers.
