Wise bank charter bid rejected by US regulator, shares fall

Wise bank charter plans in the US suffered a setback after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rejected the payments group’s application for a national trust bank charter, sending the company’s shares down around 7% in morning trading. The London-headquartered fintech said the decision would not affect its existing US business, where it operates through a range of money transmitter licences.

Wise said it had filed the application more than a year ago and argued that its business and compliance capabilities had developed since then. The company said it intends to submit a new application in due course that it considers viable.

The rejection comes at a sensitive time for Wise’s US strategy. The company recently moved its primary listing from London to the United States, saying the shift would give it greater visibility in what it described as the largest market opportunity for its products.

Why was Wise's bank charter application rejected?

US regulators rejected Wise’s application after raising compliance concerns, according to the account of the decision. Wise did not say that the OCC action changes its ability to serve customers in the US under its current state-based money transmission permissions.

A nondepositary national trust bank charter would have given Wise a more direct route into parts of the US financial system. Such a charter can allow an approved institution to connect to Federal Reserve payment systems without relying on intermediary banks, potentially changing the way a payments firm processes transfers and settles funds.

Wise’s US compliance record has faced regulatory scrutiny. Last month, the company confirmed that prosecutors in Belgium had opened an investigation into allegations that Wise accounts were used to launder proceeds from fraud, drug trafficking and corruption.

In July 2025, multiple US state regulators fined Wise $4.2 million over weaknesses in anti-money laundering controls. Wise referred to the consent order tied to that penalty in its statement on the OCC decision.

The company said it had responded by strengthening its local US compliance programme, improving investigation and reporting processes, increasing the integrity of customer data collection and adding resources to its US compliance function.

What Wise says it will do next

Wise said the US regulatory setting has changed since it first applied for the charter. The company said it plans to submit a renewed application under a framework linked to the Genius Act, which concerns stablecoin regulation.

Wise also pointed to the growing role of digital assets, including stablecoins, alongside existing payment rails. The company said its infrastructure could support interoperability between those systems, although the OCC rejection means it has not yet secured the national trust bank status that would have expanded its direct access to US payment infrastructure.

For investors, the immediate impact was visible in the share price decline. For Wise, the decision leaves its current US operations intact while delaying a regulatory route that could have reduced dependence on intermediaries in the American payments market.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.