Affirm Holdings (AFRM) has submitted an application for a limited bank charter, it said on Friday, becoming the latest fintech to seek a banking license as firms ranging from payments firms to crypto platforms have pursued charters under the Trump administration.
The buy now, pay later company filed with the Nevada Financial Institutions Division and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to set up a Nevada-chartered industrial loan company, which would operate as a bank subsidiary called Affirm Bank. Banking and fintech veteran John Marion has been tapped to serve as president of the new unit.
The company said the charter would help the rollout of additional financial-technology offerings for its U.S. customers, complementing Affirm’s (AFRM) current business and bank partnership models.
“A banking subsidiary would strengthen and diversify Affirm’s platform, and help us bring honest financial products to more people,” said Affirm Founder and CEO Max Levchin in a statement. “This is about expanding what we can do for consumers and merchants, and building for the long term.”
A number of companies, including payments giant PayPal Holdings (PYPL), stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group (CRCL) and XRP (XRP-USD)-linked Ripple, have applied for bank charters since President Donald Trump returned to office a year ago, as federal regulators eased rules to encourage lending and innovation.
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