Fintech
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted conditional approvals for three new national trust banks, signaling a significant shift in the U.S. banking landscape. The approvals, announced on September 18, cover Agora National Trust Bank, Catena Trust Bank, and the conversion of Bastion Platforms Trust Company into a national bank. Bastion CEO Nassim Eddequiouaq emphasized the importance of federal regulation, stating, “If you are a bank, you cannot rely on simple fintech unless they are federally regulated.” He added that the approval allows Bastion to serve as a regulated partner for major financial institutions seeking to launch products in the U.S. Bastion specializes in white-label stablecoins and provides custody for reserves and customer wallets. Stablecoins are gaining mainstream traction due to faster transactions and lower fees compared to traditional wire transfers. Eddequiouaq noted, “There’s going to be this expectation that banks can actually transact 24/7 for a fraction of a cent.” Catena Trust Bank stands out for its focus on financial infrastructure tailored for artificial intelligence agents. According to its website, Catena is developing accounts, payments, treasury functions, and controls over what AI agents can do with money. The bank asserts, “We’re not bolting AI requirements onto a legacy platform. We’re building from the ground up: deterministic policy enforcement, immutable audit trails, and verifiable agent identity.”
Agora National Trust Bank, which applied for its charter in April, is developing a comprehensive financial operating system for global businesses. This includes settlement infrastructure, treasury management, fiat connectivity, and tools for interacting with digital dollars. CEO Nick van Eck explained in a blog post, “The charter is the regulatory layer that makes all of that possible at scale. Operating without a U.S. federal charter means renting the rails in the world’s most important financial market.” The OCC reported receiving 40 de novo applications in the past 18 months, including for national trust banks, compared to just 48 applications from 2011 to 2024. This surge highlights renewed demand for federal charters and indicates which banking sectors new entrants aim to control. The post OCC Opens Three Bank Doors to Stablecoins and AI Agents appeared first on PYMNTS.com.