Fintech
Buy now, pay later company Sezzle has applied for a national bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. If approved, the new bank would offer a broad range of banking products and services, including checking and savings accounts, targeting digitally native consumers. The application marks a shift from Sezzle's initial plan to seek an industrial loan company license from Utah regulators, prompted by new BNPL regulations in states like New York, Illinois, and Oregon, and criticism of the ILC structure. The OCC review process, involving the Federal Reserve and FDIC, is expected to take 12 to 18 months. Sezzle joins other fintechs like Block, Ramp, Avant, and Modern Treasury in seeking OCC charters this year.
Early Warning Services is targeting the 100 largest U.S. merchants for its Paze digital wallet over the next three years after a 2025 revamp. CEO Cameron Fowler said Paze is focused on habituation of high-volume transactions. The wallet, owned by seven major banks, struggled with slow adoption but saw growth after a product overhaul and a summer promotion offering $10 credits. Paze has added about 220 million cards and aims to exceed its 2026 transaction goal by four times. It targets consumers not tied to Apple or other wallets, emphasizing bank-backed security.
Speaking at Money20/20 in Las Vegas, Plaid co-founder and CEO Zach Perret said AI platforms like ChatGPT and Claude could become a monetization lever for financial services, starting with card issuance. He also discussed the impact of AI agents on banking and warned that AI-enabled fraud and agent swarms could make the coming year 'scary' from a security perspective, calling the Deloitte projection of $40 billion in U.S. fraud losses by next year a 'conservative estimate.'
The OCC issued its final rule to implement the GENIUS Act, effective Jan. 18, providing long-awaited guidance for banks and OCC-regulated entities that hold, issue, and move stablecoins. The rule bans direct yield payments from stablecoin issuers but allows case-by-case evaluation of third-party reward arrangements. It does not address Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering, or OFAC sanctions, which will be covered in a separate rulemaking with the Treasury. The OCC will later announce when it will accept applications and waiver requests. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the rule a 'watershed moment,' while the ICBA raised concerns about risks to community bank lending.
Cross River Bank's parent company has agreed to acquire Accrue, a branded-wallet specialist, to enhance customer-loyalty capabilities and provide a complete embedded finance stack. The deal value and timeline were not disclosed. Accrue, launched in 2021, enables merchants to connect stored value, payments, rewards, and customer engagement. Cross River CEO Gilles Gade said payments and loyalty are becoming one, and every brand wants its own wallet. Accrue CEO Michael Hershfield will take on a leadership role building out Cross River's embedded finance offerings, and the Accrue team will join the bank.
Fintech Ramp applied for a national trust bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the company announced. If approved, the charter would allow Ramp to offer fiduciary investment management and digital-asset custody, but not deposit-taking or commercial lending. The application follows Ramp's $1.85 billion funding round and comes amid a lawsuit by the Independent Community Bankers of America challenging the OCC's approval of national trust bank charters, particularly for crypto companies.
ScribeUp, a recurring bill management service for financial institutions, closed a $13 million Series A round led by Curql Collective, with Mucker Capital and Service Ventures participating. The funding includes $10 million in equity and a $3 million venture debt facility. ScribeUp provides infrastructure for the recurring economy, enabling over 60 financial institutions to let customers identify, manage, and cancel recurring payments within their banking apps. Using agentic AI, it can track some 200,000 unique subscription billers and proactively alert users to upcoming bills that may cause overdrafts. The company was founded in 2020 by Jordan Mackler and Yohei Oka, inspired by Oka's experience of forgetting subscriptions and incurring $350 in fees. The new funding will support hiring, technology, and go-to-market strategy.
Mike Cagney, co-founder of SoFi and Figure, has raised $19 million in Series A funding for his new venture, Navra. The platform aims to solve blockchain's accessibility issue by providing a single interface for managing cryptocurrency portfolios, with qualified self-custody and enterprise controls. Navra, which Cagney prototyped in a week with the help of two AI agents, has a waitlist of about 30,000 people. The round was led by Ribbit Capital, Baseline, and DCM, with participation from Jump Crypto and Figure Technology Solutions. Cagney discusses lessons learned from SoFi and Figure and his vision for a leaner company.
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has agreed to acquire Lithuania-based Saldo Bank and its Finnish holding company. The deal, expected to close in 2027, would give Payward an EU banking license, upgrading from its current electronic money institution license. This follows other licensing advancements, including a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and an application for a national trust bank charter. The acquisition is expected to enable Payward to offer interest on deposits, lending products, and banking-as-a-service capabilities in Europe. Saldo Bank is licensed in Lithuania and passportable to Finland, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Fintech entrepreneurs are using stablecoins to break into the payments industry, with startups such as MassPay and Rain forging new pathways that incorporate or bypass traditional rails. While legacy players like Visa and Fiserv also embrace the trend, their infrastructure may hinder adaptation. Investors like Verda Ventures see stablecoins as enabling easy, fast, and cheap payments. Rain, which has raised about $338 million, provides stablecoin infrastructure and recently launched a consumer wallet, while MassPay processes tens of billions annually, with about 10% in stablecoins. The Genius Act has provided regulatory clarity, boosting confidence. Both companies continue to expand through acquisitions and new services.