Former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney’s Fintech Startup Pursues Bank Charter

Mike Cagney’s blockchain lending startup Figure Technologies Inc. became the latest of a handful of fintech firms to apply for a bank charter in a push to expand its product lines to consumers with less access to traditional credit.

The firm is seeking a national bank charter granted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The designation would reduce the company’s need for a myriad of state-by-state licenses, allowing it to more easily lend to consumers, Cagney, the former chief executive of Social Finance Inc., commonly known as SoFi, said in an telephone interview.