Fintech · Industry brief

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On September 2, the OCC granted preliminary conditional approval for a de novo national bank headquartered in Utah that will offer tokenized deposit products, digital asset custody services, payments and treasury services, and a banking-as-a-service platform. The bank plans to form a wholly owned subsidiary to issue and custody U.S. dollar-denominated reserve-backed stablecoins. The OCC confirmed that cryptocurrency custody services are permissible as part of banking and that national banks may hold digital assets on balance sheet for network transaction fees. The bank must maintain a minimum of $210 million in paid-in capital and comply with conditions including a 12 percent tier 1 leverage ratio requirement for the first three years and 60 days' prior written notice to the OCC's Specialty Assets Supervisory Office before implementing significant deviations from its business plan.

Bank Director's 2026 Technology Survey finds that 58% of bank executives cite fintech firms such as Block and PayPal as their greatest competitive threats, with 40% concerned about deposit-focused neobanks like Chime. PayPal and buy now pay later lender Affirm Holdings applied for industrial loan charters in 2025, while more than a dozen firms including Circle Internet Group and Coinbase Global have applied for national trust bank charters with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The survey reflects a shifting regulatory landscape in Washington that has recently favored greater competition in the financial system, with fintech firms increasingly seeking bank charters to expand their offerings.