38 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.
| Company | Proposed bank | Charter | Status | Filed | Decision | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | |
| Wise National Trust Austin, TX | National trust bank OCC | Denied | 2025-06-16 | 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. |
Peaked at 9 a quarter in Q4 2025–Q1 2026; the dashed bars are still filling in, not a drop-off.
118–184 days across 19 measured approvals (UKG fastest, Fidelity Digital Assets slowest); Wise's denial took 400 — over 2x the slowest approval.
14 bank and bank-branch licence applications (filed, approved or announced) tracked in the UK, EU, Switzerland, the Nordics, Latin America and the Middle East. There is no regulator feed to diff these against the way the OCC’s table backs the US queue, so every row needs the company’s or regulator’s own document, or two independent outlets. Single-source bids are left out until a second source appears.
| Company | Jurisdiction | Licence | Status | Date | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colombia Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia | Bank (credit institution) | Approved | 2026-09 | Licence to operate as a bank in Colombia, part of Revolut's push to hold its own banking licence in each major market. Sources · finextra.com, fintechfutures.com | |
| Switzerland FINMA | Bank (credit institution) | Application filed | filed 2026-09 | Standalone Swiss bank for franc salary accounts, Swiss IBANs and deposit protection; Swiss customers are served today by the Lithuanian entity. Sources · reuters.com, finextra.com | |
| Sweden Finansinspektionen | Bank (credit institution) | Application filed | filed 2026-08 | First market outside the UK for the digital SME bank; Swedish entity and executive team already set up, with EU passporting as the longer-term aim. Sources · allica.bank (primary) | |
| Finland Bank of Lithuania + ECB (home) / Finland (host) | Bank branch | Application filed | filed 2026-08 | Local Finnish account details for the 250,000+ customers served through the Lithuanian bank today. A branch of Revolut Bank UAB, not a new bank. No timetable disclosed. One source also mentions a Greek application; nothing else confirms it, so it is not recorded. | |
| France ACPR + ECB | Bank (credit institution) | Approved | 2026-08-10 | Second full EU bank licence, making Paris the Western European hub alongside Lithuania. The ECB's product-launch restrictions on the Lithuanian arm (July 2025) are reported by Bloomberg to extend to the French entity; Revolut's announcement did not mention them. Sources · techtimes.com, fxcintel.com | |
| Australia APRA | Bank (credit institution) | Approved | 2026-07 | Full authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) licence; banking operations activated in July 2026. | |
| France ACPR + ECB | Bank (credit institution) | Application filed | filed 2026-06 | Move an SME working-capital lender (today a société de financement) to a full EU credit institution ahead of expansion into Germany and Belgium from 2027. Sources · thepaypers.com, ibsintelligence.com | |
| United Arab Emirates Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) | Bank (credit institution) | Authorised, not yet fully operating | 2026-05-20 | Abu Dhabi-based AI-native, Shariah-compliant digital bank spanning banking, wealth, payments and embedded finance, targeting the $7tn Islamic finance market — reportedly the first in-principle approval anywhere for an AI-native digital banking platform. In-principle approval only — Mal has not yet become a fully licensed bank, and still needs final regulatory clearances before commencing operations. Reported alongside its $230M seed round (largest fintech seed round in MEA history), led by BlueFive Capital. | |
| United Kingdom PRA + FCA | Bank (credit institution) | Approved | 2026-03-11 | Full UK bank: FSCS-protected deposits and, over time, lending; ends the e-money-institution setup that served 13 million UK customers. Authorised with restrictions (mobilisation) on 2024-07-25; the PRA lifted them in March 2026, about 20 months later, longer than the usual 12. Sources · revolut.com (primary), tech.eu | |
| Latvia ECB | Bank (credit institution) | Intent announced | announced 2026-02 | Investment platform seeking an ECB banking licence for deposit funding and direct lending. The release says Mintos is initiating the process and expects 12-18 months; it does not confirm a filing. Sources · eqs-news.com (primary) | |
| Brazil Banco Central do Brasil | Bank (credit institution) | Intent announced | announced 2026-01 | Stated intention to obtain a full banking licence in Brazil in 2026, alongside the US national bank charter. The release states the intention and the country, not the regulator or a filing date. Sources · businesswire.com (primary) | |
| Ireland ECB (Central Bank of Ireland) | Bank (credit institution) | Approved | 2025-12 | EU banking licence to serve the EU without partner banks; Ireland first, Spain launched since. The sources say Ireland; the ECB / Central Bank of Ireland split is the standard route for a euro-area licence, not something either source spells out. Sources · paymentswrapup.com, fxcintel.com | |
| France ACPR + ECB | Bank (credit institution) | Application filed | filed 2025-07 | Move from a French payment-institution licence to full credit-institution status: longer-term lending, savings and investment, and independence from partner banks for Pay Later. Announced 2025-07-02. A January 2026 interview (JDN) says Qonto filed in 2024, and its CEO hoped for the licence in 2026. No decision found as of 2026-09-25. EU rules give the ECB six months from a complete application, twelve at most, so the announced date and the missing decision do not fit together: either the file was completed later, or a decision exists that was not found. Check before writing a status. Sources · reuters.com, techcrunch.com | |
| Mexico CNBV | Bank (credit institution) | Authorised, not yet fully operating | 2025-04 | CNBV authorisation for Nu México to organise as a banking institution. Authorisation to organise as a bank; final operational approval was still pending as of the 2026-01-27 release. Recheck. Sources · businesswire.com (primary) |
What the queue says. A bank charter has become an ownership strategy, and the queue splits by what the applicant wants to own. 21 of the 38 applications are for national trust banks: crypto and stablecoin firms (Coinbase, Circle, Ripple, Bridge) that want to hold custody, reserves and settlement under one federal supervisor rather than outsource them to a partner bank and fifty state licences. 10 are for full national banks: fintechs (Revolut, Mercury, Nubank, Upstart) that want deposits, lending and the balance sheet themselves. 4 are existing state-chartered institutions converting to a national charter, today all crypto custodians (Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets, BitGo) moving their trust companies under the OCC. 3 sit outside the OCC ladder (industrial-bank or state-trust applications). The stablecoin rows are the newest pattern: under the GENIUS Act, issuers are applying to own issuance, reserves, custody and dollar conversion end to end, which is why the trust-bank column now outnumbers the deposit-taking one.