Mercury Applies for National Bank Charter with the OCC
On December 19, 2025, Mercury, a prominent fintech company providing banking services primarily to startups and technology companies, applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national bank charter. The application, which remains pending, signals Mercury's strategic intent to transition from a BaaS-dependent model to becoming a fully chartered national bank. If approved, this would significantly change Mercury's regulatory status and reduce its dependence on bank partners that currently hold customer deposits and issue accounts.
The move comes in the broader context of increased OCC openness to fintech charter applications, highlighted by the five conditional trust bank charter approvals issued just a week earlier on December 12, 2025. Mercury announced the application via its company blog. No financial terms or specific timeline for a decision have been disclosed.
The application reflects a broader trend of maturing fintechs seeking their own bank charters to gain more control over their banking stack and customer relationships.
- If approved, Mercury's charter would mark a significant shift from BaaS-dependent fintech to chartered bank, potentially reducing revenue for its current partner banks.
- Reflects a maturing fintech trend where scaled platforms seek direct charters, which could reshape the BaaS market as fewer large fintechs need middleware banking partners.