The FDIC issued a final rule on January 15, 2021, clarifying the application and supervisory process for industrial loan companies (ILCs), an increasingly popular charter path for fintech firms seeking banking capabilities. The rule establishes conditions and commitments for ILC parent companies without granting new specific charters. This codification is significant for fintechs exploring BaaS models via ILC structures.
Entities: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Standard Chartered partnered with Indonesian e-commerce platform Bukalapak to launch digital banking solutions via its nexus Banking-as-a-Service platform. The partnership enables embedded banking services including accounts and payments for Bukalapak's 100+ million users and 13.5 million sellers. This marks a significant push for financial inclusion in Indonesia through embedded finance.
Entities: Standard Chartered · SC Ventures · Bukalapak
The OCC conditionally approved Anchorage Trust Company's charter conversion to become Anchorage Digital Bank, National Association, making it the first federally chartered digital asset bank. The approval allows Anchorage to provide fiduciary custody of digital assets, custody of cash deposits at FDIC-insured banks, and on-chain governance services. This landmark decision signals the OCC's willingness to extend national bank charters to virtual currency fintech firms.
Entities: Anchorage Digital Bank · Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
Customers Bank launched a white-label turnkey solution enabling banks, credit unions, fintechs, and other lenders to offer branded PPP loan applications powered by Customers Bank's infrastructure. The program handled end-to-end origination, funding, servicing, and forgiveness without requiring technology integration from partners. Major participants included a top-five bank, a $50 billion bank, and a nationally known fintech.
Visa and Plaid mutually terminated their $5.3 billion acquisition agreement on January 12, 2021, following a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit. The DOJ had challenged the deal over concerns about competition in online debit services and data aggregation. Plaid, which connects fintech apps to over 11,000 U.S. financial institutions, chose to pursue independent growth amid surging demand.
Financial literacy fintech Zogo was selected for the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator program on January 7, 2021. The accelerator, run by ICBA and The Venture Center, is designed to foster collaboration between community banks and fintechs. The selection signals continued community banking interest in embedded fintech partnerships.
Berlin-based BaaS platform Mambu raised €110 million (~$135 million) in a Series D round led by TCV, valuing the company at approximately €1.7 billion. The funding will support expansion into Japan, Brazil, and the US as the company reported 100% year-over-year growth in 2020. Mambu's SaaS platform enables banks and fintechs to launch and manage banking products via APIs.
Entities: Mambu · TCV · Tiger Global · Arena Holdings · Bessemer Venture Partners · Runa Capital · Acton Capital Partners
SoFi announced a merger with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. V, a special purpose acquisition company, to go public. The deal aimed to fund SoFi's expansion into digital banking and broader financial services. The move signaled growing investor appetite for fintech platforms pursuing bank-like capabilities.
Entities: SoFi · Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. V
On January 4, 2021, the OCC issued Interpretive Letter 1174 confirming that national banks and federal savings associations may use stablecoins and participate as nodes on blockchain networks for payment activities. This clarification expands the permissible activities for banks engaging with distributed ledger technology. The letter is a significant enabler for BaaS providers and banks looking to offer crypto-integrated financial services.
Entities: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
CreditSnap partnered with Tresl to offer a white-label lending and account-opening platform called BankingAmplified for banks and credit unions. The turnkey solution combined pre-qualification technology, digital fulfillment, and consultative sales. The platform was designed to be compliant across all 50 U.S. states, helping traditional institutions compete with fintech lenders.
AccessFintech, a data-sharing platform for capital markets backed by Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan with $37.5 million in total funding, was highlighted as a 2021 standout. The platform reduces costs and risks in trading data reconciliation. Its bank-backed model exemplifies bank-fintech partnership infrastructure.
Entities: AccessFintech · Goldman Sachs · J.P. Morgan
Form3, a cloud-native payments technology provider with $57.3 million in total funding, was spotlighted for its API-led payments architecture enabling banks and fintechs to modernize legacy systems. The company attracted UK bank clients and was expanding across Europe. Form3's platform is a core BaaS enabler for payment processing.
Russia's largest bank Sber partnered with JP Morgan to pilot a digital currency initiative in 2021. The collaboration brings together a major emerging-market bank and a global financial institution to explore digital currency infrastructure. This reflects the broader trend of traditional banks forming fintech-oriented partnerships around new payment rails.
Fintech lender Oportun filed an application with the OCC for a national bank charter (application #2020-WE-CHARTER317993), with public comments dated December 22, 2020. The application reflects the company's ambition to operate as a nationally chartered bank to expand its lending services. No approval was issued in December 2020.
Entities: Oportun · Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
UK-based Liberis secured £70 million in funding and venture debt to grow its API-powered embedded business finance platform. The company integrates with partners like Worldpay and Global Payments to serve SMEs. The raise aimed to help small businesses weather the COVID-19 storm through accessible embedded financing.
Mastercard and EnKash announced an alliance to expand commercial card usage for B2B payments in India. The partnership embeds commercial card acceptance and supplier payment services into EnKash's platform. It aims to digitize B2B transactions for Indian businesses.
Swedish open banking platform Tink raised €85 million (approximately $103 million) in a funding round extension, growing its platform to cover 3,400 banks and 250 million customers. The investment supports Tink's expansion across Europe as PSD2-driven open banking adoption accelerates.
Berlin-based Upvest raised €12 million in a Series A+ round to expand its pan-European securities API for fintechs and banking platforms. The round included €5 million from Earlybird, building on prior investment from Notion Capital, HV Capital, and Partech. The funding will support acquisition of a German brokerage bank license and further development of its embedded investment infrastructure.
Entities: Upvest · Earlybird · Notion Capital · HV Capital · Partech
Crypto firms Paxos and BitPay filed applications with the OCC for national trust bank charters on December 9 and December 8, 2020 respectively. The filings reflect growing fintech interest in obtaining federal bank charters to operate nationwide without state-by-state licensing. Approvals came later—Paxos received conditional approval in April 2021.
Entities: Paxos · BitPay · Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
Contis partnered with Mastercard to expand its Banking-as-a-Service issuing capabilities across Europe. The collaboration leverages Contis's BaaS platform with Mastercard's network reach. The partnership aims to strengthen embedded finance offerings for European businesses and fintechs.
Blockchain-powered fintech Figure Technologies filed an OCC national bank charter application on December 7, 2020. The company, known for its blockchain-based lending and financial services, sought a federal charter to expand its banking operations. The application drew industry and trade group commentary but no approval was granted in December 2020.
Entities: Figure Technologies · Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
Moov Financial raised $27 million in a Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The company provides an open-source embedded banking platform enabling businesses to send, receive, and store money. The round positions Moov to expand its developer-focused infrastructure for embedded financial services.
Community Federal Savings Bank (CFSB) partnered with PayFacto Payments to launch a new merchant acquiring division, expanding CFSB's Banking-as-a-Service offerings. The partnership combines CFSB's fintech sponsorship and compliance capabilities with PayFacto's scalable payment processing platform. This targets emerging sectors with customized merchant acquiring services in the US market.
Entities: Community Federal Savings Bank · PayFacto Payments
Stripe launched Stripe Treasury, an embedded business banking API enabling platforms to offer BaaS services to their users. The product partners with Evolve Bank & Trust, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and Barclays. This marks a significant step in integrating financial services directly into non-bank platforms without Stripe becoming a bank itself.