Payments giant PayPal formally applied for a Utah state-chartered industrial bank license on Monday, joining a number of fintech and crypto firms seeking bank charters to expand their services.
The digital payments company aims to create an industrial loan arm called PayPal Bank to offer business lending solutions to “small businesses in the US.”
Additionally, a state-chartered license would enable the PYUSD stablecoin issuer to originate loans, hold deposits, and access payment networks directly.
PayPal CEO Alex Chriss emphasized that small businesses face “significant hurdles” in securing capital to grow their operations.
“Establishing PayPal Bank will strengthen our business and improve our efficiency, enabling us to better support small business growth and economic opportunities across the U.S.,” Chriss said in the release.
PayPal filed the application with Utah regulators and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Crypto Firms Rush to Apply Bank Charter Amid Regulatory Shifts
PayPal’s push for a bank license comes amid an increase in banking charter activity among crypto firms. The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) head, Jonathan Gould, recently highlighted that the agency received about 14 charter applications since the start of the year, including digital asset firms.
Besides, PayPal has prioritized regulated integration of digital assets over recent years, including rolling out support for merchants to accept Bitcoin and Ethereum at checkout.
The federal bank regulator, OCC, already has trust charter applications from five different crypto companies, including stablecoin issuer Circle, Coinbase and Ripple.
For instance, Ripple intended to bring its dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, under federal supervision by seeking a national banking license.
Per Monday announcement, PayPal has selected Mara McNeill to serve as PayPal Bank’s president, who has over two decades of experience in banking and commercial lending.
PayPal Expands PYUSD Stablecoin Reach
PayPal launched its dollar-pegged stablecoin PYUSD in Aug. 2023 in partnership with Paxos Trust Company, a US-regulated entity.
Early this year, the US SEC dropped its high-profile crypto investigation on the stablecoin, with no further action, in a broader crackdown on crypto-linked enforcement actions.
Last week, the firm confirmed that YouTube creators in the US can now choose to receive their payouts in PYUSD, pushing stablecoin into everyday payments.
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