Pew Offers Feedback on Special-Purpose Charter for Financial Technology Companies

The Pew Charitable Trusts filed the following letter on Jan. 15, 2017, with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to provide comments on the benefits and risks of the office’s proposed special-purpose national bank charter for financial technology, or “fintech,” companies.

The letter included no specific recommendation on whether the OCC should create a new charter, but it provided feedback on the proposal drawn from Pew’s extensive research on small-dollar loans, consumer banking, and individuals who use nonbank financial services—many of whom have a high likelihood of using financial technology services. The findings of those studies affirm that a well-regulated banking system would support innovation and could help the OCC to more effectively accomplish its stated goals of improved consumer protection, financial inclusion, and access to safer and lower-cost financial services for customers within and outside the traditional banking system.