OCC News Release 2025-19, "OCC Conditionally Approves Fintech Business Model for a National Bank" (March 17, 2025)

Summary

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency News Release 2025-19, dated March 17, 2025, announcing conditional approval of the application by financial technology company SmartBiz Loans to change the business model of CenTrust Bank, N.A., of Northbrook, Illinois, upon acquiring it. After the acquisition CenTrust Bank, N.A. was renamed SmartBiz Bank, N.A., and the change allows it to conduct small business lending activities on a nationwide basis. The OCC says it granted the change after thorough review of SmartBiz and its current operations, applying the same standards used for all new entrants to the federal banking system. Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney E. Hood said the conditional approval demonstrates the OCC's commitment to a regulatory framework that supports innovations in banking.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

News Release 2025-19 | March 17, 2025

OCC Conditionally Approves Fintech Business Model for a National Bank

Share This Page:

WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced conditional approval of the application for financial technology (fintech) company SmartBiz Loans to change the business model of CenTrust Bank, N.A., Northbrook, Illinois, upon its acquisition of CenTrust Bank, N.A.

Upon acquisition, CenTrust Bank, N.A. was renamed SmartBiz Bank, N.A. CenTrust further applied to change its business model to conduct small business lending activities on a nationwide basis.

The OCC granted a change to the business model after thorough review of SmartBiz and its current operations. In granting this application, the OCC applied the same rigorous review and standards applied to all new entrants to the federal banking system.

“A safe, sound and fair fintech business model has a place in today’s federal banking system,” said Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney E. Hood. “This conditional approval demonstrates the OCC’s commitment to a regulatory framework that supports innovations in banking that expand access to financial services for consumers and communities across the country.”

The federal banking system includes more than 1,000 national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches of foreign banking organizations operating in the United States that range in size from community banks under $10 billion in assets focused on meeting local needs to the largest internationally active banks. These banking companies conduct a wide array of businesses that range from retail and wholesale banking activity to trust, credit card and other more narrowly focused services. The institutions that make up the federal banking system conduct approximately 66 percent of the banking activity in the United States, hold more than $16 trillion in assets combined, and manage more than $67 trillion under their custody and fiduciary control.

Related Link

Media Contact

Stephanie Collins (202) 649-6870

Topic(s):

File and source

File

nr-occ-2025-19_9d8b305ebab3c0db.html

Size

58,328 bytes

SHA-256

7b063a4d318ed1d5f1eb4a30b2b93cb43cc94aa768cdfd5609ca8afa629c2702

Our copy

nr-occ-2025-19_9d8b305ebab3c0db.html

Original

www.occ.gov