FinTechs Seek National Trust Bank Charters to Plug Directly Into the Fed

In a bid to reshape how they interact with the U.S. financial system, FinTech firms including Wise, Ripple, and Circle are pursuing national trust bank charters from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)—a strategic move that could grant them direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment rails.

Unlike traditional banking licenses, national trust bank charters don’t authorize these firms to accept deposits or extend credit. But they do unlock the ability to streamline settlement, offer custodial services, and crucially, bypass the cumbersome patchwork of 50 state money transmitter licenses. If approved, the charters would put these FinTechs under the supervision of a single federal regulator and enable them to operate more efficiently at scale.

For companies like Wise, the motivation is clear: reduce reliance on correspondent banks and legacy intermediaries. In fact, Wise has long advocated for direct Fed access, calling it a “smart policy” in a 2020 blog post, arguing that routing payments through partner banks—often competitors—adds unnecessary cost and risk. Direct connections could help slash cross-border transaction fees, which the World Bank estimates average 6.5%, and allow these firms to control the entire customer experience end-to-end.

Circle’s push to become a national trust bank is similarly strategic. The firm, which issues the USDC stablecoin, would use the charter to expand its custodial capabilities. Likewise, Ripple’s subsidiary Standard Custody & Trust Company is seeking a Federal Reserve master account, which would allow it to manage stablecoin reserves directly with the central bank and issue or redeem tokens beyond standard banking hours.

These moves signal a broader trend: FinTechs are no longer content operating on the fringes of the traditional financial system. Instead, they’re seeking to embed themselves within it—on their own terms. The OCC has indicated it’s open to innovation, noting in a recent statement that the National Bank Act gives it flexibility to accommodate new business models, provided they meet prudential standards.

The regulator currently lists more than 60 trust banks under its purview, and while national trust charters remain limited in scope, they offer a powerful regulatory gateway for digital-first financial firms looking to scale and simplify operations. The public has until July 18 to comment on the applications.

As regulatory frameworks evolve, the outcome of these applications could serve as a bellwether for how the next generation of financial institutions will operate—not just alongside legacy banks, but potentially on equal footing.

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