Wise shares drop as US regulator rejects national trust bank charter
The London-headquartered payments firm saw its shares fall after the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency blocked its bid for a national trust charter, delaying its ambitions to bypass intermediary banks in its largest market.
Wise shares fell after the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rejected the London-headquartered fintech’s application for a national trust bank charter. The decision halts the company’s most ambitious push to overhaul its American payment infrastructure.
The rejected plan would have allowed Wise to settle dollar payments directly with the Federal Reserve, bypassing partner banks. Securing this direct access, alongside a master account at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, was intended to cut intermediary costs and speed up real-time settlements.
For a business built on removing middlemen from cross-border transfers, relying on third-party banks in the US remains an awkward compromise. The charter would have also enabled the firm to custody its own dollar assets and eventually reduce its reliance on a patchwork of state money transmitter licences.
The regulator did not publish a detailed rationale, though reports indicate compliance gaps were the primary concern. Wise acknowledged historical issues with its original application and noted that the Federal Reserve has generally paused account access for uninsured trust banks.
Furthermore, the firm was operating under a multi-state consent order from July 2025 regarding compliance shortcomings. Obtaining a Federal Reserve master account is notoriously difficult, with the strictest tier of applicants waiting an average of 823 days for a decision.
Despite the regulatory setback, Wise maintains that its day-to-day operations remain entirely unaffected. The company continues to process transfers in the US under money transmitter licences. These cover 48 states and four territories as part of a global portfolio of more than 80 licences.
The US remains central to the company's growth, accounting for nearly half of its $243bn cross-border volume in the 2026 financial year. Chair David Wells has described the country as the biggest market opportunity for the firm's products globally.
Rather than abandoning the effort, Wise intends to file a fresh application under the framework of the GENIUS Act, which governs stablecoins and digital assets. The firm is also continuing to work with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and the National Bank of Belgium on its compliance systems.
The rejection highlights the intense regulatory scrutiny European fintechs face when attempting to scale in America. While rivals like Revolut spent years securing a UK banking licence, others such as Monzo have simply walked away from the US market entirely.
