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.
Mercury issues corporate credit cards and its software platform lets businesses pay bills, send invoices, manage employee expenses and automate their accounting functions.
“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.”
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 Holdings 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.
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.
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.”
