Becoming a Bank Proves Challenging for Fintechs Seeking Survival
- Figure Technologies becomes latest to withdraw OCC application
- ‘Very few people, if any, will get those charters’: attorney
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In an era of soaring interest rates and intense competition, fintechs are increasingly deciding they need to become banks to ensure their longterm survival. They’re also finding that doing so isn’t easy.
Figure Technologies Inc., a blockchain firm started by SoFi Technologies Inc. co-founder Mike Cagney, is the most recent company to withdraw its application for a bank charter, a move made after years of waiting for an answer from US financial regulators. Figure isn’t alone: financial-technology firms Oportun Inc., Brex Inc. and Monzo Bank Ltd. and crypto company BitPay Inc. have all pulled their US banking-charter applications, seeing how arduous the path to approval has become.