Blue Ridge Bank
Charlottesville, Virginia
The OCC issued a second consent order against Blue Ridge Bank in 2024, following an earlier enforcement action, due to continued deficiencies in the monitoring and oversight of its fintech partnerships. In response to regulatory scrutiny, Blue Ridge Bank had already terminated relationships with over a dozen fintech partners. The second order signaled that initial remediation efforts were insufficient to satisfy the OCC's expectations for third-party risk management. Blue Ridge Bank had been a significant BaaS sponsor bank, and the repeated enforcement actions served as a cautionary example for the industry. The action highlighted the OCC's willingness to escalate enforcement when initial corrective measures prove inadequate.
Verified from source: The OCC issued a second regulatory action against Blue Ridge Bank earlier in 2024, even after the lender shed over a dozen fintech partners. The earlier consent orders issued to Blue Ridge Bank were part of regulators' continued efforts to monitor fintech partnerships.
- Regulators will escalate with repeated consent orders if initial remediation is insufficient
- BaaS banks may need to drastically reduce fintech partner portfolios to satisfy regulatory expectations
- Ongoing monitoring of fintech partnerships is as critical as initial due diligence
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