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UK-based challenger bank Revolut has reportedly filed a draft application for a banking licence with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Revolut currently offers financial services in the US through a relationship with FDIC-insured Metropolitan Commercial Bank.

"Last October, Fred Rife, the interim director of the Wyoming Department of Audit, which oversees the Division of Banking, acknowledged that the Division is "out on the leading edge and they're doing things that nobody else in the country's been asked to do at this point." The reality is that a small group of self-interested individuals put the Division in this position. The Division's recent proposal to amend the rules governing SPDIs is an attempt to restore some law and order to what has become crypto's wild west. I encourage the Division of Banking to finalize these rules without amendment and without delay."

The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has has conditionally approved crypto-asset custodian Anchorage's application for a national trust charter, and the creation of Anchorage Digital Bank. With a banking charter, Anchorage can provide sub-custody services - like holding assets for a main custodian - for any financial institution. Anchorage is the first crypto company to receive a federal charter, though Kraken and Avanti have both received state charters for digital banking services in Wyoming. While the Wyoming charter enables both Kraken and Avanti to operate nationally, it comes with certain limitations. https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2021/nr-occ-2021-6.html

JP Morgan is launching a digital bank to offer consumer banking services in the United Kingdom, and has already hired 400 people. It enters a crowded digital marketplace in the U.K. for consumer banking. The market has flourished as regulators encouraged new startups, including Starling Bank Ltd. and Monzo Bank Ltd. JP Morgan previously tried to launch a digital bank in U.S. cities and markets where it didn't have Chase branches, but closed the product, called Finn, in June 2019 after slow pickup.

Seattle-based Protego Trust Bank received conditional approval for a trust charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to custody digital assets. Protego is the second applicant to receive conditional approval from the OCC, following Anchorage. The newly chartered trust bank will also offer a trading platform for clients, a service for issuing new digital assets and a peer-to-peer lending platform for its clients.

Out of the 50 digital challenger banks operating in Asia Pacific (APAC), just ten operators are profitable. These providers are primarily located in China and Japan, indicating that the two nations offer the most mature and developed digital banking landscapes in the region, according to a new analysis by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The Bank Negara Malaysia's new digital bank licensing framework for digital banks will apply a simplified regulatory framework during the initial stage of operations, commensurate with an asset threshold of not more than RM3 billion for three to five years. This functions as a foundational phase for the licensees to demonstrate their viability and sound operations, and for the central bank to observe the performance of the licensed digital banks and attendant risks that arises from their operations.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) approved LendingClub's acquisition of Radius Bank. LendingClub had previously announced it would pay around $185 million to buy the bank. The merger is subject to certain conditions including day-one capital of $410 million, including a capital contribution from LendingClub of no less than $250 million. This marks the end of LendingClub's transition from the P2P lending model under which the company was launched to a digital banking model. https://www.occ.treas.gov/topics/charters-and-licensing/decision-letter-lending-club.pdf

Business-to-business (B2B) fintechs, particularly those that support rapidly growing ecommerce, have performed well on the whole, and have been popular among investors. But for the big consumer fintech names, it has been rather different story. Some, such as Monzo, have seen valuations plummet. Both Monzo and Revolut have faced a barrage of complaints from customers who have had their accounts frozen. Challenger banks serving SMEs have also not had a great pandemic. And finally, the VC money that has so far kept them afloat is not as readily available in a global downturn.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced that 14 of the 21 digital bank applications have met the eligibility criteria required for the application to be considered. These eligible applicants, comprising five digital full bank applicants and nine digital wholesale bank applicants, will progress to the next stage of assessment, in which applicants will be short listed based on proposals they will present via virtual meetings.

U.K.-based digital bank Revolut's "free-account" customers will face fees on FX transfers starting on August 12. Sending money abroad will cost 1 Swiss franc for Swiss Franc transfers, 4 francs for transactions in dollar and 6 francs in any other currency. Furthermore, the upper limit for free exchange orders will be lowered to 1,250 francs and the percentage charged for orders on weekends increased to 1 percent from 0.5 percent.

Back in June, UK PSP lender Zopa was awarded a full U.K. bank licence, as it gears up to launch a fixed-term savings account, followed by a credit card. Dubbed "Zopa Bank," the new challenger bank will sit alongside its existing peer-to-peer lending business, under Zopa Group, creating what the veteran fintech previously described as the first hybrid peer-to-peer and digital bank offering.

In a case pending in the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appealsthe lawsuit, New York financial-services superintendent Linda Lacewell claims a company can't be a bank unless it accepts deposits, no matter that it offers other traditional bank services. According to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) this claim is legally and historically wrong, as well as risky. The OCC determines which companies qualify for charters as national banks or federal savings associations and supervises their activities. It contends that consumer protection and the safety and soundness of the U.S. financial system are at risk if the lawsuit succeeds, as services that formerly were subject to federal supervision are increasingly occurring in the shadow banking sector, outside the OCC's regulatory oversight.

The Wyoming Banking Board approved San Francisco-based crypto exchange Kraken's application for a special purpose depository institution (SPDI) charter. Kraken is now the first SPDI bank in Wyoming. Kraken will also be the first newly chartered (de novo) bank in the state since 2006. By becoming a bank Kraken gets direct access to federal payments infrastructure, and can more seamlessly integrate banking and funding options for customers. As a state-chartered bank, Kraken now has a regulatory passport into other states. Up now, Kraken relied on third-party providers for wire transfers and other services. https://blog.kraken.com/post/6241/kraken-wyoming-first-digital-asset-bank/

Chainalysis and the Wyoming's Division of Banking, the banking regulator responsible for the chartering and supervision of state banks, have teamed up to combat money laundering, sanctions violations, and other criminal activity that uses digital assets. Wyoming's watchdog will leverage Chainalysis solutions to verify the state banks' compliance with anti-money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act, know-your-customer and sanctions requirements. It will also employ Chainalysis tools to help federal and state law enforcement agencies conduct regular transaction testing and monitoring.

San Francisco-based Varo Money has become the first U.S. consumer fintech firm to be granted a national bank charter, enabling the digital challenger to offer a full suite of FDIC-insured services. It was granted the charter by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and has secured regulatory approvals from the FDIC and Federal Reserve to open Varo Bank N.A. Varo Money currently provides a range of savings, loans and account-based services through a relationship with The Bancorp Bank. Varo Bank will enable it to expand its services to target a broader set of customer needs including credit cards, loans, and other savings products.

After two years of laying the groundwork, crypto-friendly Arival Bank is launching in beta. With a team of 20 with offices in Singapore, Puerto Rico and Saint Petersburg, Fla., it plans to provide banking accounts to crypto startups via its sponsor bank, Puerto Rico-based San Juan Mercantile Bank and Trust. But to bank with Aival clients have to show what's in their wallet, because Arival is using tools from Elliptic to scan the crypto addresses that onboarding clients provide and see if there are any suspicious transactions.

Binance-backed Founders Bank has yet to win a license in Malta even though it originally expected to have one by 2019. The project also slashed its funding target due to lack of a regulatory timeline. The delays may stem in part from changes to the political landscape in Malta, which the crypto community has dubbed "Blockchain Island".

Jiko has obtained a bank charter by acquiring its partner bank, Mid-Central National Bank of Minnesota. Jiko has a very stripped-down vision of banking, with no maturity transformation and no credit risk. Instead of being held in deposits, customer money is swept into Treasury Bills, which are liquidated when a person uses a debit card or withdraws cash from ATMs. The start-up secured approval for the move from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Since Jiko passes on the yield from investments and most of the swipe fees on an upcoming debit card to customers, it will likely charge a "Netflix-like" subscription fee.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas approved rules allowing the creation and licensing of digital banks as a new bank category that is separate and distinct from the existing bank classifications.