Upstart bank charter gets conditional OCC approval

Upstart bank charter plans advanced after the lending marketplace received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form Upstart Bank, N.A., the company said in a July 23 release. The decision moves Upstart closer to operating a nationally chartered bank, though two major regulatory approvals are still outstanding.

Upstart said it applied in March for the bank charter. Its separate applications to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for deposit insurance and to the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company remain pending, according to the company.

The proposed bank would have no physical branches, Upstart said. The company said Upstart Bank would be able to originate consumer loans across the United States, accept FDIC-insured deposits if approved, and support rather than replace the funding relationships already used by the Upstart platform.

What approvals does Upstart Bank still need?

Upstart has cleared a conditional step with the OCC, which charters and supervises national banks. The company still needs FDIC approval for deposit insurance and Federal Reserve approval for Upstart to become a bank holding company, according to its release.

Those approvals address different parts of the proposed structure. A national bank charter establishes the legal bank, FDIC insurance is tied to protected customer deposits, and Federal Reserve approval covers the parent company’s status as a bank holding company.

Paul Gu, Upstart’s co-founder and chief executive, said in the release that the company would keep working with the OCC, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve on the remaining steps. He said Upstart Bank would help reduce lending costs and make the company’s full product line available in all 50 states.

Gu said the planned bank would support Upstart’s aim to “radically reduce the cost and complexity of credit for all Americans.”

Annie Delgado, Upstart’s chief risk officer and the proposed chief executive of Upstart Bank, said the chartering process has been demanding. She said in the company release that Upstart had been “challenged extensively” through the review, adding that such scrutiny is appropriate for an institution seeking to become a national bank.

When Upstart announced the March applications, Gu described the charter effort as the next stage for the company as its scale and product range expanded. He said at the time that a bank charter could help borrowers save time and money and could streamline Upstart’s work with banks, credit unions and institutional credit funds.

Upstart also framed the proposed institution as an AI-based bank built from the start around its lending model. The company has not said the bank would displace its existing marketplace funding partners, instead stating that Upstart Bank would complement those arrangements.

PYMNTS reported in February 2025 that some financial technology companies had sought their own banking licenses, and that efforts to revise the application process could encourage more firms to consider that route.

This story draws on original reporting from PYMNTS.