On July 31, 2018, the OCC announced that it had finalized parameters for its new limited-purpose financial technology national bank charter and is ready to begin taking applications.  This release follows several years of formal deliberation on the topic and coincided with the release of a 222-page U.S. Treasury report on innovation.  Industry reactions have been wide-ranging – will this level the playing field or usher in a FinTech “apocalypse“?

Highlights of the OCC notice include:

• Designation of the charter type as a national bank.  Like its other special-purpose charters, including the non-depository trust company or the
  

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Our unannounced and unplanned summer hiatus is over, and Jonathan and I are back in the studio to provide the latest episode of The Bank Account.  Between travel for various banking conferences, a full work plate, and a few summer vacations, we stepped away from the podcasting studios for a few months (or

In our fourth and final podcast

On April 20, 2017, the American Banker reported that U.S. Bank’s new high-end credit card features an interesting differentiator from the high-end cards recently introduced by other large credit card issuers.  U.S. Bank’s new high-end credit card significantly incents mobile usage over conventional swipe or chip dip for purchases.  While the other card offerings typically provide

Amid criticism from virtually every possible constituency, on March 15, 2017, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a draft supplement  to its chartering licensing manual related to special purpose national banks leveraging financial technology, or fintech banks. As we indicated in our fintech webinar discussing the proposal last December, the OCC is proposing to apply many conventional

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Jonathan and I were joined by Ken Achenbach for Episode 6 of The Bank Account in which we discuss the OCC’s newly announced special purpose charter for FinTech companies.

Among the topics covered in this discussion are how we view the OCC’s announcement, how existing banks may want to look at the announcement, and the largest challenge that we think may emerge for FinTech companies entering the banking space.

Unfortunately, the highlight of this episode… me completely cracking

The fintech industry has justifiably greeted the OCC’s announcement of a national fintech charter with optimism. But one area where we have seen significant confusion is the possibility of the fintech charter being granted without deposit insurance, and the implications thereof.

Background.  On December 2, 2016, OCC Comptroller Thomas Curry announced that the OCC is planning to take applications from fintech

On November 29, 2016, the FDIC, as part of its Community Banking Initiative, held an outreach meeting in Atlanta.  While the FDIC has indicated that it will publish a handbook regarding applications for deposit insurance in the coming weeks (which we’ll also summarize), we thought it made sense to provide a few highlights from that meeting:

Mechanics.  The mechanics of the chartering

Atlanta Partner Jonathan Hightower authored a BankThink piece in the American Banker on May 9, 2016 titled “Don’t Ignore This FDIC ‘Request for Comment.’”  The discusses FDIC Financial Institution Letter FIL-32-2016,  which asks for comment on the agency’s plan to explore the economic inclusion potential of mobile financial services.

Jonathan notes “banks’ focus on mobile products not only provides innovative benefits to underserved consumers who may lack branch access, but in light of regulators’ interest in the potential for mobile technology to expand economic inclusion, this focus may also help institutions overcome regulatory and community-based challenges to mergers.”

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We are pleased to announce that we are co-hosting a conference with Banks Street Partners and TTV Capital that will take a new look at the opportunities that exist for the banking community within the evolving Fintech landscape.

The agenda features prominent industry speakers regularly quoted in the media as foremost experts in the banking and fintech arenas. The morning keynote will be given by Chris Nichols, Chief Strategy Officer for CenterState Bank. Chris Nichols is an active bank investor, entrepreneur and lover of quantified banking. He currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Banking Exchange and