2019 Outlook: Sea Change or Status Quo for Fintech Chartering?

Washington financial regulators will soon find out whether their efforts to encourage fintech companies and other institutions to launch new banks begin to bear fruit.

Regulators laid the groundwork over the past year to shake up the U.S. banking system to reflect advances in technology and the decline of brick-and-mortar community banks.

Many eyes are turned to an expected announcement from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in early January on the first applicant for a special purpose national bank charter that financial tech companies need to enter banking. Meanwhile, actions that are underway at states and other ...