By PYMNTS | October 23, 2026
FinTech company Sezzle has begun the formal charter application process to establish a national bank that would offer a broad range of banking products and services, the company said in a Thursday (Oct. 22) press release.
Sezzle filed applications with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to charter a national bank, and with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for deposit insurance, according to the release.
If approved, Sezzle Bank, N.A., would offer FDIC-insured deposit accounts, checking and savings accounts, and credit products. The bank would focus on digitally native consumers, including those who are new to credit or who avoid using traditional credit products, the release said.
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Sezzle also plans to apply to become a bank holding company subject to consolidated supervision by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, per the release.
“Applying for a national bank charter reflects our commitment to operating under the highest standards of federal oversight,” Sezzle CEO and Executive Chairman Charlie Youakim said in the release. “A charter would allow us to offer a broader set of banking products to people who prefer [buy now, pay later] and digitally native banking products, with the same federal supervision that applies to every national bank.”
Sezzle said in February that it was accelerating its super app plans after seeing growing engagement with its existing products in 2025.
“2025 brought a shifting landscape for BNPL and for FinTech more broadly,” Youakim said at the time during an earnings call. “We continued to see the sector mature within the broader U.S. financial ecosystem, as BNPL become more embedded in everyday commerce and more firmly established within the financial ecosystem.”
PYMNTS reported in February that while FinTech companies have traditionally built around banks, not as banks, a growing number are seeking one of the several forms of bank charters.
A national bank charter, granted by the OCC, is the most expansive and the most demanding. It allows an institution to operate nationwide under a single federal supervisor and to take deposits, make loans and connect directly to the Federal Reserve’s payments systems, the report said.