Licenses and charters

The credit startup is seeking a limited-purpose charter from federal regulators through the Competitive Equality in Banking Act's credit card bank carveout.

The stablecoin provider recently applied for a national trust bank charter from the OCC after acquiring a New York trust charter last year.

The fintech rolled out Intelligent Money Movement, a treasury service that combines payments, liquidity management and disbursements as it looks to capitalize on its multiple banking licenses.

The cryptocurrency exchange is the latest digital asset firm to receive a trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The digital asset company, currently partnered with firms like Morgan Stanley and One Pay, is seeking its own national trust bank charter from the OCC.

If the company gets final approval, it will be the newest crypto firm to receive a charter in recent months.

The Brazil-based fintech got conditional approval from the OCC to bring its digital banking services to U.S. customers.

The Brazilian digital bank Banco Inter now has a license from the Federal Reserve Board and the state of Florida to establish a virtual "branch" in Miami.

The U.K. payments processor announced its acquisition of an alternative merchant acquirer license from the state of Georgia as part of its U.S. expansion.

The Netherlands-based digital bank Bunq filed its second U.S. charter application this week after successfully receiving a broker-deal license late last year.

Fintechs sought to acquire the rights and privileges of bank charters in various ways this year, from de novo applications to buying up banks.

The Toronto-based loan fintech received an IFE license from Puerto Rico to launch Propel Bank.

The ICBA opposed Coinbase's filing for a trust charter in a public letter as Comptroller Jonathan Gould defended the fintech charter process on Tuesday.

The regulator awarded a federal charter to Generations United Federal Credit Union, which will serve employees and members of the United Church of Christ.

The legislation would grant stablecoin issuers a high degree of flexibility, allowing firms to be regulated state by state, as a bank, or as a “limited national limited payment stablecoin issuer” supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The agency signaled during the Trump administration that it would approve more industrial loan companies following an extended freeze in new charters due to policy disputes. But the thaw will likely prove temporary now that the board's makeup has changed.

Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell said she will step down Aug. 24, the same day Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans to leave following a sexual harassment investigation. The state’s attorney general found that Lacewell helped with the governor’s public relations response to the allegations.

The Boston-based cryptocurrency firm says it would welcome the tough oversight that comes with being a bank. Yet Biden-era regulators have shown apprehension about granting approvals to digital-asset firms.

A state regulator group has agreed to pause its lawsuit challenging Figure Technologies’ application as the federal agency reviews chartering policies. But analysts caution that the underlying conflict over nontraditional firms seeking banking powers is far from resolved.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu faces a host of “pressing issues” from fintech charter decisions to reforming the Community Reinvestment Act. But in contrast to predecessors, he suggests some decisions should be left to a Senate-confirmed head of the agency.