On April 20, 2017, the American Banker reported that U.S. Bank’s new high-end credit card features an interesting differentiator from the high-end cards recently introduced by other large credit card issuers.  U.S. Bank’s new high-end credit card significantly incents mobile usage over conventional swipe or chip dip for purchases.  While the other card offerings typically provide triple miles for travel and entertainment purchases, the U.S. Bank “Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite” card puts its money on getting cardholders to enroll their cards in mobile wallets – Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay and Microsoft Wallet.

For a generation of customers who want to do everything, or as much as possible, on their phones, millennials have not adopted mobile payments as quickly as expected. Personally, I constantly encourage everyone to

Amid criticism from virtually every possible constituency, on March 15, 2017, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a draft supplement  to its chartering licensing manual related to special purpose national banks leveraging financial technology, or fintech banks. As we indicated in our fintech webinar discussing the proposal last December, the OCC is proposing to apply many conventional requirements for new banks to the fintech charter. While the OCC’s approach is familiar to those of us well versed on the formation of new banks, there are a few interesting items of note to take away from the draft supplement.

• More bank than technology firm. Potential applicants for a fintech charter should approach the project with the mindset that they are applying to become a bank using technology
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Jonathan and I were joined by Ken Achenbach for Episode 6 of The Bank Account in which we discuss the OCC’s newly announced special purpose charter for FinTech companies.

Among the topics covered in this discussion are how we view the OCC’s announcement, how existing banks may want to look at the announcement, and the largest challenge that we think may emerge for FinTech companies entering the banking space.

Unfortunately, the highlight of this episode… me completely cracking up during Jonathan’s introduction… will have to wait until a later blooper reel.  It was early enough in the recording that we decided to start over.

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The fintech industry has justifiably greeted the OCC’s announcement of a national fintech charter with optimism. But one area where we have seen significant confusion is the possibility of the fintech charter being granted without deposit insurance, and the implications thereof.

Background.  On December 2, 2016, OCC Comptroller Thomas Curry announced that the OCC is planning to take applications from fintech companies wishing to obtain a special purpose national bank charter.  These banks would be national banks with the same privileges and obligations as traditional full-service national banks, but with specialized business plans and that may or may not choose to have deposit taking authority.

In his remarks, Comptroller Curry expressed his excitement about the great potential to expand financial inclusion and reach unbanked and underserved populations.  At the same time,

On November 29, 2016, the FDIC, as part of its Community Banking Initiative, held an outreach meeting in Atlanta.  While the FDIC has indicated that it will publish a handbook regarding applications for deposit insurance in the coming weeks (which we’ll also summarize), we thought it made sense to provide a few highlights from that meeting:

Mechanics.  The mechanics of the chartering process are the same as before.

Business Plans.  As expected, there will be greater scrutiny on business plans, making sure that banks stick to their business plans post-opening, and (not expressly stated but as translated by me) ensuring that the results of the bank’s business plan do not deviate greatly from the original projections (i.e., providing for limited ability to take advantage of natural growth in the new bank’s markets or lines

Atlanta Partner Jonathan Hightower authored a BankThink piece in the American Banker on May 9, 2016 titled “Don’t Ignore This FDIC ‘Request for Comment.’”  The discusses FDIC Financial Institution Letter FIL-32-2016,  which asks for comment on the agency’s plan to explore the economic inclusion potential of mobile financial services.

Jonathan notes “banks’ focus on mobile products not only provides innovative benefits to underserved consumers who may lack branch access, but in light of regulators’ interest in the potential for mobile technology to expand economic inclusion, this focus may also help institutions overcome regulatory and community-based challenges to mergers.”

Click here to read the whole article.

We are pleased to announce that we are co-hosting a conference with Banks Street Partners and TTV Capital that will take a new look at the opportunities that exist for the banking community within the evolving Fintech landscape.

The agenda features prominent industry speakers regularly quoted in the media as foremost experts in the banking and fintech arenas. The morning keynote will be given by Chris Nichols, Chief Strategy Officer for CenterState Bank. Chris Nichols is an active bank investor, entrepreneur and lover of quantified banking. He currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Banking Exchange and is co-founder of Wall&Main, Inc. a leading platform for crowdfunding. Prior to joining CenterState, Chris was CEO of the capital markets arm of Pacific Coast Bankers’ Bank and is the former author of the Banc Investment Daily.

London and New York Partner Judith Rinearson authored a “Bankthink” opinion piece posted on the front page of American Banker  on Dec. 28 regarding differences in how the payments industry is perceived and supported in the U.S. and Europe.

“My biggest surprise after moving to London in September is how far the U.S. has to catch up to the United Kingdom and other European Union countries in the fintech and payments innovation race. Compared with their U.S. counterparts, U.K. and EU regulators are really trying to encourage payment innovation through licensing regimes. One thoughtful and pragmatic step taken by the U.K.’s payments regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, was to ask industry for its input on appropriate policy. But the U.K. and EU’s bigger advantage is how their ‘e-money’ and payment service licensing processes work compared with U.S. state money transmitter laws.”

Click here to read her full article.