For all the innovation that fintechs have driven in recent years, national banking charters remain the benchmark for financial services firms—especially for those seeking a broader U.S. footprint.
Bank charters can bring instant credibility and scale to these organizations, one of the main reasons why highly successful fintechs like the UK’s Revolut have still sought regulatory approval.
This trend is now expanding to include traditional banks, as Brazil’s Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has secured conditional preliminary approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a nationally chartered bank—pending the approval of the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
“Itaú is a major banking player in Latin America,” said Ben Danner, Senior Debit Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “The move comes at a time where we are seeing other international players like Nubank enter the U.S. market. Will the Fed and FDIC approve, particularly with the rise of growing economic sovereignty and concerns over foreign ownership? We will see.”
Entering the Organization Phase
The Nubank approval earlier this year was of particular relevance to Itaú Unibanco, as the neobank has become the third-largest bank in Brazil by leaning into its digital roots and becoming an early adopter of artificial intelligence.
After a January OCC approval, Nubank has entered the organization phase, which means it must raise the required capital, build adequate infrastructure, and establish appropriate compliance controls to operate in the U.S. Once fully approved by regulators, Nubank plans to launch deposit accounts, credit cards, lending, and digital asset custody—all within federal oversight.
A Sought-After Approval
This expanded functionality is why fintechs as diverse as stablecoin firm Circle, peer-to-peer leader PayPal, and buy-now, pay-later lender Affirm have all sought U.S. bank charters in recent years.
Itaú Unibanco differs from all these firms in that it is a traditional bank, but a bank charter approval could be just as impactful in expanding the institution’s footprint.
“It looks like they have no plan to compete through a traditional branch network but expect they will offer trad bank services like deposit accounts, mortgages, cards, and lending of particular appeal to the wealthy Latin American segment,” Danner said.