Mercury has applied for a national bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the San Francisco-based fintech announced Friday.
Mercury, geared toward startups and venture capitalists, appointed Jon Auxier as the fintech’s chief banking officer and as president and CEO of the proposed bank. Auxier served as CFO of SoFi Bank, where he helped the company in its own journey toward becoming a bank. Auxier left SoFi in 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“Few fintechs have reached the level of financial strength and operational discipline to pursue a charter at this scale,” Auxier said in a news release. “Mercury is profitable and has built a strong balance sheet with a scaled and successful business. Becoming a bank will build upon our strong foundation and let us innovate with more precision and accountability.”
Auxier also served as SoFi Technologies’ corporate treasurer and, earlier in his career, held senior roles at Green Dot and Goldman Sachs.
“Together, we are committed to building a bank that is as strong and enduring as it is innovative – a bank our customers can trust to keep their money safe and to help them build for generations,” Auxier wrote in a LinkedIn post Friday.
Mercury’s application comes as a number of fintechs – particularly in the crypto sector – have been approved by the OCC for national trust bank charters. The move also comes days after PayPal applied to open a Utah-chartered industrial loan company. The OCC and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. also recently approved de novo applications for Erebor Bank.
As part of its process, Mercury is applying for deposit insurance with the FDIC and will apply to the Federal Reserve to become a financial holding company, the fintech said.
“Becoming an FDIC-insured national bank aligns with our long-term vision and will allow Mercury to deliver a better customer experience at scale,” Mercury CEO Immad Akhund said. “We’ve built Mercury for ambitious companies and individuals. Once we receive regulatory approval, a charter will let us deliver greater stability, long-term confidence and trust, while continuing to redefine what radically different banking means.”
In recent times, Mercury has made quick maneuvers to catch new business – launching new features for venture capitalists to meet growing demand from former customers of Silicon Valley Bank when that lender failed.
Mercury also previously worked with banking-as-a-service provider Synapse, particularly connecting the now-bankrupt firm to its banking partner, Evolve. Mercury and Evolve cut ties in March.
Tim Mayopoulos, the former CEO of Fannie Mae who now serves as a Mercury board member, said the fintech’s decision to apply for a national bank charter “shows how innovation and oversight can reinforce one another — strengthening confidence in the system and expanding access to modern, technology-driven banking.”
“Fintechs have become vital to how small businesses and entrepreneurs access the financial system,” Mayopoulos said.