Charter queue · 2025-26 · updated 2026-09-04
Who is applying to become a bank
28 applications tracked since the OCC reopened de novo chartering. Most are national trust banks — custody and stablecoin settlement under one federal supervisor instead of fifty state licences — not deposit-taking banks. Each row is a sponsor-bank relationship that ends the day the charter opens.
3
Application filed
21
Conditional approval
2
Approved
2
Denied
| Company | Proposed bank | Charter | Status | Filed | Decision | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Builders Bank & Trust, N.A. Sioux Falls, SD | National trust bank OCC | Application filed | 2026-09-04 | pending | Uninsured, non-depository trust bank for bitcoin and digital-asset custody, riskless-principal execution and stablecoin settlement — a second charter alongside Square Financial Services (Utah ILC), replacing 50+ state MTL and virtual-currency licences. Announced 2026-09-08. | |
| Revolut Bank US, N.A. Stamford, CT | National bank OCC | Conditional approval | 2026-03-04 | 2026-09-02 Corporate Decision 1390 | Full US national bank for Revolut's US expansion, filed the same month it received its full UK banking licence. | |
| OpenReserve Bank, National Association Salt Lake City, UT | National bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2026-09-02 Corporate Decision 1389 | De novo bank with blockchain settlement, tokenized deposits and a GENIUS Act stablecoin subsidiary (ReserveUSD). | |
| Itaú Bank, National Association Miami, FL | National bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2026-08-14 Corporate Decision 1386 | US national bank for Brazil's largest private bank. | |
| World Liberty Trust Company, National Association Bay Harbor Islands, FL | National trust bank OCC | Conditional approval | 2026-01 | 2026-08-14 Corporate Decision 1385 | Trust charter to expand the USD1 stablecoin business to institutional customers. | |
| bunq US Bank, National Association New York, NY | National bank OCC | Denied | 2026-01 | 2026-08-04 Corporate Decision 1384 (denial) | Second attempt after withdrawing a 2023 application; US deposits for European nomads resident in the US. The OCC denied the application after its field investigation, noting the proposed holding company would be majority-owned by a single individual who also controls bunq B.V. | |
| Upstart Bank, National Association Wilmington, DE | National bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2026-07-23 Corporate Decision 1382 | Own charter for the AI lending marketplace, which has originated through partner banks (Cross River, FinWise) since 2012. | |
| Wise National Trust Austin, TX | National trust bank OCC | Denied | — | 2026-07-21 Corporate Decision 1381 (denial) | Trust charter that would have given Wise direct access to US payment rails without a sponsor bank. The OCC denied the application after its field investigation; the letter says a subsequent application would need to address the reasons for the denial. | |
| First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. (Circle National Trust) New York, NY | National trust bank OCC | Approved | 2025-06-30 | 2026-07-10 Final OCC approval (Circle announcement) earlier: Conditional Approval 1356 (preliminary), 2025-12-12 | Places USDC reserve management and digital-asset custody under federal oversight. | |
| Morgan Stanley Digital Trust Purchase, NY | National trust bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2026-06-18 Corporate Decision 1378 | Digital-asset custody trust bank. | |
| Laser Digital National Trust Bank New York, NY | National trust bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2026-05-29 Corporate Decision 1377 | Digital-asset custody trust bank for Nomura's Laser Digital unit. | |
| Augustus National Bank, National Association Dallas, TX | National bank OCC | Conditional approval | 2025-12 | 2026-05-08 Corporate Decision 1374 | Full-service US bank for the European payments fintech formerly known as Ivy (processes for Kraken). | |
| Payward National Trust Company | National trust bank OCC | Application filed | 2026-05-08 | pending | Federally regulated digital-asset custody for individuals and institutions; opposed by community-bank trade groups. | |
| Interactive National Trust Bank Greenwich, CT | National trust bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2026-05-05 Corporate Decision 1373 | Trust bank for custody and related fiduciary services. | |
| Mercury Bank, National Association Salt Lake City, UT | National bank OCC | Conditional approval | 2025-12 | 2026-04-24 Corporate Decision 1372 | Own bank to add Zelle, expand lending and run its own payments infrastructure instead of sponsor banks (Choice, Column, Evolve). | |
| Coinbase National Trust Company New York, NY | National trust bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2026-04-02 Corporate Decision 1370 | Migrates institutional custody from the NYDFS-chartered Coinbase Custody Trust Company to a federal trust bank over the three-year de novo period. | |
| VALT Bank, National Association Eagle, ID | National bank OCC | Conditional approval | 2025-11 | 2026-03-13 Corporate Decision 1368 | Digital business bank for SMBs — credit, deposits, treasury. | |
| Foris DAX National Trust Bank Chicago, IL | National trust bank OCC | Conditional approval | 2025-10 | 2026-02-20 Corporate Decision 1367 | Trust subsidiary to do business as Crypto.com National Trust Bank. | |
| Bridge National Trust Bank New York, NY | National trust bank OCC | Conditional approval | 2025-10 | 2026-02-12 Corporate Decision 1365 | Lets Stripe's stablecoin unit operate stablecoin products under federal oversight; Payoneer announced Bridge-powered stablecoins the same day. | |
| Erebor Bank, National Association Columbus, OH | National bank OCC | Approved | 2025-07 | 2026-02-09 Final national bank charter (OCC; reported by Banking Dive) earlier: Conditional Approval 1348 (preliminary), 2025-10-15 | First de novo national bank granted in four years — crypto-friendly bank for tech, AI, defence and manufacturing companies. FDIC deposit insurance approved 2025-12-16 (fdic.gov); full charter followed in February 2026. | |
| Nubank, National Association McLean, VA | National bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2026-01-29 Conditional Approval 1362 | US entry for the Brazilian neobank: deposits, credit cards, lending and digital-asset custody. | |
| UKG National Trust Bank Branchburg, NJ | National trust bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2026-01-22 Conditional Approval 1361 | Trust bank attached to the payroll / HCM platform — payroll funds handling under a federal charter. | |
| Zerohash National Trust Bank | National trust bank OCC | Application filed | 2026 | pending | Stablecoin and crypto infrastructure provider seeking a federal trust charter. | |
| Ripple National Trust Bank New York, NY | National trust bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2025-12-12 Conditional Approval 1359 | Federal trust charter for RLUSD stablecoin reserves and custody. | |
| Paxos Trust Company, LLC → national bank New York, NY | Conversion to national bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2025-12-12 Conditional Approval 1358 | Converts the NYDFS-chartered stablecoin issuer to a national trust bank. | |
| Fidelity Digital Asset Services, LLC → national bank New York, NY | Conversion to national bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2025-12-12 Conditional Approval 1355 | Converts Fidelity's digital-asset custodian to a national trust bank. | |
| BitGo Trust Company, Inc. → BitGo Bank & Trust Sioux Falls, SD | Conversion to national bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2025-12-12 Conditional Approval 1353 | Converts the South Dakota trust company behind BitGo's custody to a national bank. | |
| OneSource Virtual Trust Bank, National Association Dallas, TX | National trust bank OCC | Conditional approval | — | 2025-09-12 Conditional Approval 1346 | Trust bank for the Workday payroll services provider's client-funds handling. |
Sources: the OCC’s Interpretations & Decisions table for every decided row (letter number and date verbatim), the applicant’s own announcement for filings the OCC has not yet decided. The list is diffed against the OCC table weekly. Charters already operating before 2025 are not in the queue — they appear on the vendor pages as held charters.
How to read the queue
- National bank vs national trust bank
- A national bank takes deposits and lends, carries FDIC insurance and the Community Reinvestment Act, and can replace a fintech’s sponsor bank outright (Revolut, Mercury, Nubank, bunq, Upstart). A national trust bank is uninsured and non-depository: it custodies assets and settles transfers under fiduciary powers, which is why the stablecoin and custody names — Circle, Coinbase, Ripple, Paxos, BitGo, Bridge, Block’s Builders Bank — file for one. It replaces fifty state money-transmitter and virtual-currency licences with one federal supervisor; it does not replace the sponsor bank behind a deposit product.
- The OCC ladder
- Application filed is the applicant’s announcement; the OCC posts receipts to its Corporate Applications Search with a delay. Conditional approval is the OCC’s preliminary conditional approval letter, published as a Corporate Decision or Conditional Approval — the bank must then raise capital, pass a pre-opening examination and, for a depository bank, obtain FDIC insurance, typically within eighteen months. Approved is final approval to commence business; Opened is a bank in operation. Conversions (Paxos, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets) move an existing state trust company onto a national charter and follow the same letters. A denialis published the same way, as a Corporate Decision with the same “application to charter” title — only the letter text says which way it went. Wise (July 2026) and bunq (August 2026) were denied after the OCC’s field investigation; either can reapply.
- Why it matters for the sponsor-bank layer
- Every deposit-taking applicant on this list currently runs on a partner bank — Mercury on Choice, Column and Evolve; Chime is buying Stride outright — and the charter is the exit from that relationship. The sponsor-bank leaderboard shows who they leave behind.
Leaderboards