US bank charter approvals more than double 2025 levels as fintechs lead surge

Regulators are approving new banks faster and in greater numbers than at any point in the past decade, greenlighting more than twice as many charters so far this year as in all of 2025.

Year-to-date through Sept. 11, regulators greenlit 29 bank charter applications, more than doubling the 14 cleared during the entirety of 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. The current total nearly doubles the previous high of 15 approvals in 2022, which stood as the busiest year since 2016.

Recent green lights

September has already produced three approvals through Sept. 11: two national bank charters from the OCC and one deposit insurance approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted preliminary conditional approval Sept. 2 for OpenReserve Holdings Inc. to charter OpenReserve Bank NA, a full-service national bank, 142 days after the application was filed. The same day, UK-based fintech company Revolut Ltd. secured conditional OCC approval for Revolut Bank US NA, 182 days after filing. Both banks still await FDIC decisions on the deposit insurance applications they filed alongside their charters in the spring.

On Sept. 8, the FDIC conditionally approved deposit insurance for Mercury Technologies Inc.'s Mercury Bank NA, a proposed Salt Lake City-based digital bank, the final piece of an approval that began when the OCC cleared its national charter on April 24. The order requires at least $300 million in initial paid-in capital and a leverage ratio of at least 10% during the bank's first three years.

The OCC approved several commercial bank and nondepository trust applications Aug. 14.

Itaú Bank NA, a proposed national bank in Miami backed by Brazil-based Itaú Unibanco SA, was approved in 151 days and is expected to open with at least $507 million in paid-in capital. Meanwhile, World Liberty Trust Co. NA, a Bay Harbor Islands, Florida-based national trust bank backed by crypto venture World Liberty Financial Inc., was approved in 220 days.

OCC decisions now cluster close to a four-month standard. Upstart Holdings Inc.'s Upstart Bank NA and Nu Holdings Ltd.'s Nubank NA — both still awaiting FDIC insurance decisions as of Sept. 11 despite OCC charter approvals on July 23 and Jan. 29 — cleared in 120 days and 121 days, respectively. VALT Bank NA, Morgan Stanley Digital Trust NA, Foris DAX National Trust Bank, Stripe Inc.'s Bridge National Trust Bank and Alvarez & Marsal Trust Co. NA each got approval at 120 days, with UKG National Trust Bank at 118 and Nomura Group's Laser Digital National Trust Bank at 122. Bank of St. George was the quickest among commercial banks at 102 days.

More in the pipeline

Organizers filed 40 bank charter applications through Sept. 11, exceeding the 31 filed in all of 2025 and the combined total for 2023 and 2024.

Eight applications have arrived since late July, including Block Inc.'s Sept. 4 filing to establish Builders Bank & Trust NA, a nondepository trust in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Texas Patriot Bank in Frisco, Texas, filed Sept. 8, and Bank Elevated also filed in Frisco on Aug. 31.

Chicago-based cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Zero Hash US LLC resubmitted its application for a national trust bank charter on Aug. 18 to establish a national trust bank in Asheville, North Carolina, after the OCC returned its initial application in July.

More fintechs are weighing whether to seek a charter of their own. Dave Inc. "has not announced plans to pursue a bank charter, but frames the choice as attractive optionality. Management expressed an openness to pursuing its own charter which would consolidate regulatory oversight under the OCC, remove state-licensing constraints," and extend its Flex card to about six states where it is currently unavailable, Piper Sandler analyst Patrick Moley said in a Sept. 14 note following investor meetings with CEO Jason Wilk.

Just one application has been rejected in 2026 year to date, that of Amsterdam-based bunq BV. The OCC on Aug. 4 denied the Dutch fintech's proposal for bunq US Bank NA, to be headquartered in New York, citing "significant supervisory and compliance concerns" spanning an unclear capital plan, inexperienced management and an "unrealistic" business model.

A total of 34 applications filed since the start of 2025 remain pending as of Sept. 11.