Wise is changing tack after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) rejected its bid to create a U.S. national trust bank, saying the fintech will now seek a charter under the federal GENIUS Act framework for payment stablecoins.
What happened
- The OCC denied Wise’s original application for “Wise National Trust” in Austin, Texas on July 21, a decision the company disclosed on July 24. Wise’s U.S. operations continue as normal through money-transmitter licences across 48 states and four territories.
- London-listed Wise shares plunged as much as 10% after the rejection went public.
Why the OCC said no
- The OCC concluded Wise had not demonstrated the proposed trust bank could meet U.S. legal and regulatory requirements. The regulator flagged weak anti-money-laundering and countering-the-financing-of-terrorism (AML/CFT) controls and said Wise U.S. had a history of failing to meet money services business rules.
- The OCC also criticised the proposed board and management for insufficient experience with national banking rules, fiduciary services and AML/CFT operations. The planned trust would have leaned heavily on Wise U.S. and other group entities for compliance work.
- The OCC said approval would conflict with its charter policies, but the denial does not prevent Wise from reapplying once it addresses the regulator’s concerns.
Why Wise is switching to the GENIUS Act
- Wise said its original plan depended on access to Federal Reserve payment systems — an assumption that became “non-viable” after the Fed effectively paused account access for uninsured trust banks while it develops a new payment-account policy. The earlier model aimed to let Wise settle U.S. dollar payments more directly and reduce reliance on partner banks.
- Instead, Wise will now apply under the GENIUS Act, the federal law passed in July 2025 that creates a licensing and supervision regime for payment stablecoin issuers. Wise has not said it will issue its own stablecoin; analysts at William Blair describe the firm as “agnostic of the rail,” focused on reducing cross-border payment costs whether via traditional rails or digital assets.
What the GENIUS Act route requires
- The GENIUS Act imposes reserve, redemption, reporting, consumer-protection and compliance requirements for approved payment stablecoin issuers. It is due to take effect on January 18, 2027, or 120 days after regulators publish final rules, whichever comes first.
- Final rulemaking is still pending. The OCC published a main proposed rule in March, and Treasury has proposed AML and sanctions standards — but regulators missed a July 18 deadline, leaving key details unresolved. Wise’s new application will need to explain how the entity would operate, how it would use stablecoins (if at all), how it will meet stricter AML/CFT standards, and how it would function without the unrestricted Fed access the earlier plan assumed.
A crowded—but not identical—field
- The OCC has been processing several digital-asset trust charter applications. Circle received final approval in July 2026 after conditional approval in December; Ripple, Paxos, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Crypto.com, Bridge and Coinbase have also gained conditional decisions or entered the process.
- These approvals have provoked pushback from banking groups and some lawmakers — for example, the Bank Policy Institute has explored legal challenges to the OCC’s trust-charter policy. Wise’s situation is different: this was a straight denial tied to compliance shortfalls and management concerns rather than the conditional approvals seen for other crypto firms.
What’s next
- Wise says it has strengthened financial-crime controls since its first filing and will address the OCC’s findings in its next application. The GENIUS Act route may offer a different regulatory pathway, but Wise will still need to satisfy the OCC’s standards before securing a national trust charter. Regulators’ outstanding rulemakings will also shape what that pathway ultimately looks like.
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