- Key Insight: High-cost lender OppFi has entered a deal to acquire BNC National Bank, which would give the company a national banking charter.
- Forward Look: Critics say the charter will allow OppFi to circumvent state laws limiting interest rates, and worry that as mergers like this become more common, they'll expose more of the country to predatory lending.
- Expert Quote: "With a national bank charter, OppFi could charge whatever rates it wants and ignore the laws passed in red and blue states around the country," said Lauren Saunders, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.
UPDATE: This article includes additional information about the merger, in addition to comments from both OppFi CEO Todd Schwartz and a consumer advocate.
In the latest example of a high-cost nonbank consumer lender seeking to buy a bank, Opportunity Financial has reached a deal to acquire the $1 billion-asset parent company of BNC National Bank.
Chicago-based OppFi announced the $130 million cash-and-stock deal on Wednesday. It said it expects the transaction, which needs regulatory approval from the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
"We thought it was the next rational step to look at," Todd Schwartz, OppFi's CEO, told American Banker. "Instead of being a vertically integrated servicer for bank partners, what about becoming the bank?"
OppFi specializes in making relatively small loans to cash-strapped Americans at high annual percentage rates. A nine-month, $2,000 loan serviced by OppFi in California, for example, would incur an annual interest rate of 160%, according to the company's
Buying BNC would give OppFi a national bank charter, making it subject to regulation by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, rather than by a patchwork of state regulators. Schwartz confirmed that the merger would allow OppFi to operate in all 50 states.
"There are some efficiencies from a compliance and regulatory aspect that we're very excited about," Schwartz said, referring to the benefits of gaining the charter. "It cleans up a lot of that and makes it so that we can innovate. And actually, I think that there's opportunity to even lower costs for our customers."
The deal appears to follow the template established recently by another nonbank lender. Enova International, which, like OppFi, is a high-cost consumer lender that's based in Chicago, announced in December that it had reached a deal to
"A national bank doesn't have a limitation in terms of its interest rate. So we could fight back against state-chartered banks, but there's no limitation on national banks," Nadine Chabrier, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending,
After OppFi announced its acquisition plans, Lauren Saunders, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, voiced similar concerns.
"This is a terrible development that we hope the Trump administration will reject," Saunders told American Banker. "With a national bank charter, OppFi could charge whatever rates it wants and ignore the laws passed in red and blue states around the country."
Saunders believes the opportunity to work around state laws "absolutely" motivated OppFi's decision to acquire BNC. She emphasized, however, that neither that transaction nor the Enova deal have received the necessary regulatory approvals.
"It's not too late," Saunders said. "But if the Trump administration approves bank charters for lenders charging 100% to 160% interest, we are going to see horrible predatory lending all over the country, and states won't be able to do anything to stop it."
Schwartz countered that OppFi provides credit access to consumers who often can't get loans from traditional banks. Simplifying the company's regulatory burdens, he said, could reduce its costs — savings that it could potentially pass on to the customer.
"This is just making the model more efficient and putting us under a single regulatory body," Schwartz said. "It's clear and transparent all the way through. Also, we're going to be able to offer much more competitive products."
BNC is a commercial bank with $1 billion in deposits and 13 locations, including its Arizona headquarters and 12 branches in North Dakota. Historically, it has focused on serving small to midsize businesses.
Assuming the merger is completed, BNC will continue its usual operations, led by its existing management team, but as a community banking division of OppFi's newly established banking subsidiary, OppFi Bank, according to OppFi.
Schwartz is slated to lead the successor company as CEO, while BNCCORP Chairman Michael Vekich will serve on the board of directors of OppFi Bank.
"This is an exciting opportunity to align our community-focused banking tradition with OppFi's world-class digital innovation," Vekich said in a statement. "This is a significant moment in our proud history."
The boards of both companies have unanimously approved the merger, OppFi said.
