Paypal becomes latest fintech to capitalise on Trump’s deregulation
Paypal has its sights set on acquiring a banking licence in the US as it becomes the latest fintech aiming to jump on President Donald Trump’s deregulatory agenda.
The payments giant on Monday said it had submitted applications to the Utah Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to form Paypal Bank.
The firm said it would help bolster its small business lending capacity, after providing over $30bn in loans and working capitals to business accounts since 2013.
“Securing capital remains a significant hurdle for small businesses striving to grow and scale,” said Alex Chriss, president and chief executive of Paypal.
Paypal follows suit with Brazilian fintech Nubank and crypto giant Coinbase which lodged their applications for US banking charters earlier this year in a bid to seize the Trump administration’s reforms.
Trump’s reforms focused on the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, which was enacted after the financial crisis to boost financial stability and increase accountability, as well as the Consumer Protection Act of the same year.
The changes hiked the primary asset threshold at which firms face tougher prudential standards to $250bn from $50bn previously, meaning fewer companies were subject to stringent standards.
They also eased the ‘Volcker Rules’ – which restricts banks from certain speculative investments – for lenders with assets of less than $10bn.
“The Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda and its openness to granting bank charters is beginning to make the US banking market more accessible and competitive,” said John Cronin, banking analyst at Seapoint Insights.
UK fintech darlings look over the Atlantic
A number of the UK’s fintech darlings have begun looking overseas with hopes of capitalising on these reforms.
Revolut, Clearbank and Starling are exploring plans to buy nationally chartered US banks as a way of capturing an American banking licence to lend across all 50 states, according to media reports.
Declan Ferguson, chief financial officer of Starling, has said the firm was “inclined towards acquisition” due to it being a quicker route to the licence.
But Cronin warned that while the deregulatory agenda from the White House would “increase the attraction of the US market for overseas firms” the licensing process was likely to remain “highly stringent for those who don’t have an existing notable presence in the market”.
In the UK, the Labour government has ramped up efforts to rip up regulation across the City hoping to boost international competitiveness.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her Leeds Reforms package in July with an aim of “rewiring” the financial services system. But efforts thus far have been criticised for failing to “shift the dial on growth” with analysts telling CityAM they were unlikely to transformative.
In September the UK’s banking watchdog launched a fresh push to slash regulation with the identification of 37 “individual reporting templates” which could be teared up.
The watchdog said the deletion of the templates, along with consolidation of its reporting rules into a single chapter of the PRA Rulebook would help streamline the administrative process.
The savings are expected to save banks £26m annually.