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Ford, GM, Stellantis Join Crypto Firms In Trump-Era Bank Charter Push After Winning Preliminary FDIC Approval: Report
Ford, GM, Stellantis Join Crypto Firms In Trump-Era Bank Charter Push After Winning Preliminary FDIC Approval: Report
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Detroit's ‘Big Three’ automakers have reportedly received preliminary approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for industrial bank charters, joining a growing list of financial technology companies, crypto firms, and household-name brands seeking to become banks under the Trump administration.Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), and Stellantis (STLA) — the parent company of Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram — each received preliminary deposit-insurance approval from the FDIC for industrial banks, according to a report by The New York Times. rose nearly 4% in midday trade. Retail sentiment around the company on Stockwits improved to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ over the past day and chatter climbed to ‘high’ from ‘normal’ levels.Meanwhile, jumped nearly 5% but sentiment dropped to ‘neutral’ from the ‘bullish’ zone over the past day. Chatter stayed at ‘high’ levels. climbed over 4% with retail sentiment trending in ‘extremely bullish’ territory, alongside ‘high’ levels of chatter.Who Else Is in Line For A Banking Charter?The automakers are not alone with the list of companies now seeking or holding bank charters, according to the report. It said that PayPal (PYPL), the payments giant with over 400 million active accounts, has an application under review. So does Affirm (AFRM), the buy now, pay later pioneer that processes billions in consumer credit annually without a banking license of its own.On the crypto side, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted conditional national trust bank charters late last year to five crypto ventures, including Ripple Labs, and Fidelity Digital Assets. The charters allow the operators to act as custodians for customers' assets, including cryptocurrency. World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the crypto venture linked to the Trump family, is also among the applicants.Upstart Holdings (UPST), the AI-powered lending platform that underwrote $11 billion in home equity, auto, and personal loans last year, announced in March that it would seek to become a national bank holding company subject to Federal Reserve supervision. Annie Delgado, Upstart's chief risk officer, is the intended chief executive of Upstart Bank if the charter is granted, the report said.Enova (ENVA) and OppFi (OPFI), both of which specialize in short-term consumer lending, are each seeking to obtain charters by acquiring existing nationally...