Stripe-Owned Bridge Clears OCC Hurdle for Federal Bank Charter

Stripe-owned Bridge announced Tuesday (Feb. 17) that it received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to organize a federally chartered national trust bank.

When the charter is fully approved, Bridge will be able to operate stablecoin products and services under direct federal oversight, the company said in a Tuesday press release.

Subject to applicable law and OCC requirements, the company will be authorized to offer businesses digital asset custody, stablecoin issuance and orchestration, and stablecoin reserve management, according to the release.

“Our compliance framework already positions Bridge to be GENIUS [Act] ready,” Bridge said in the release. “Now achieving a national trust bank charter will provide our customers the regulatory backbone they need to build with stablecoins confidently and at scale.”

PYMNTS reported in May that Stripe and other nonbanks are increasingly applying for bank charters to gain inroads into processing transactions and connecting directly to payment infrastructure.

In October, PYMNTS reported that many FinTechs are turning to bank charters as a means to broaden their reach and expand product lines by cutting through state-by-state licensing and gaining direct access to the U.S. financial system.

Without a bank charter, FinTechs must stitch together a patchwork of state money-transmitter licenses and rely on partner banks for access to the Federal Reserve system. With a charter, they can unlock nationwide reach and access to the payments and settlement rails that keep commerce moving.

PYMNTS reported in November that the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), the Bank Policy Institute (BPI), the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and Fair Finance Watch (FFW) submitted letters to the OCC opposing Bridge’s application for a national trust bank charter.

The BPI said in its letter that it opposes the application in part because approval would “permit the national trust bank charter to be used in a new and untested manner that could significantly increase risks to the U.S. financial system.”

Reached by PYMNTS for comment on the letters, Stripe pointed to an October post on X in which Bridge CEO and Co-founder Zach Abrams announced the company’s submission of its application and said: “We’ve long believed stablecoins will be a core, regulated financial building block.”

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