OCC Conditionally Approves Fintech Business Model for a National Bank

WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced conditional approval of the application for financial technology (fintech) company SmartBiz Loans to change the business model of CenTrust Bank, N.A., Northbrook, Illinois, upon its acquisition of CenTrust Bank, N.A.

Upon acquisition, CenTrust Bank, N.A. was renamed SmartBiz Bank, N.A. CenTrust further applied to change its business model to conduct small business lending activities on a nationwide basis.

The OCC granted a change to the business model after thorough review of SmartBiz and its current operations. In granting this application, the OCC applied the same rigorous review and standards applied to all new entrants to the federal banking system.

“A safe, sound and fair fintech business model has a place in today’s federal banking system,” said Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney E. Hood. “This conditional approval demonstrates the OCC’s commitment to a regulatory framework that supports innovations in banking that expand access to financial services for consumers and communities across the country.”

The federal banking system includes more than 1,000 national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches of foreign banking organizations operating in the United States that range in size from community banks under $10 billion in assets focused on meeting local needs to the largest internationally active banks. These banking companies conduct a wide array of businesses that range from retail and wholesale banking activity to trust, credit card and other more narrowly focused services. The institutions that make up the federal banking system conduct approximately 66 percent of the banking activity in the United States, hold more than $16 trillion in assets combined, and manage more than $67 trillion under their custody and fiduciary control.

Related Link

• Conditional Approval (PDF)