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OCC rejects Wise’s US national trust bank charter application
The regulator cited money-laundering and terrorist-financing risk concerns, and Wise said it will refile under a GENIUS Act framework while noting the denial does not affect its existing US money transmitter licenses.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency denied Wise’s application for a US national trust bank charter, according to The Defiant. The payments company said the move was a rare public rejection amid a broader wave of OCC approvals for crypto and fintech trust charters.
The OCC decision letter, reviewed by Law360, cited what it called significant supervisory and compliance concerns. It also said Wise’s proposed management and board had demonstrated a persistent inability to manage money-laundering and terrorist-financing risks.
Wise said it plans to submit a new application under a GENIUS Act framework, and that the denial does not affect its US operations. Those operations rely on money transmitter licenses across 48 states and four territories.
Wise previously filed in June 2025 for Wise National Trust, N.A., a nondepository trust bank that would have given it direct access to Federal Reserve payment rails rather than routing through partner banks. The application also depended on a Fed master account, and Wise said the approach became non-viable after the Federal Reserve paused account access for an uninsured trust bank.