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Happy Wednesday, Fintech Listeners! 

This is it. Today is the day. No preamble required. Let’s go!

— Alex 

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3 BIG IDEAS FROM THE PODCAST

Bank Nerd Corner is back!!!!! 

And this time with a twist: Kiah Haslett isn’t just my co-host, she’s now officially part of Fintech Takes!

We started this podcast years ago as an outlet to nerd out about banking, and now Kiah will be doing that full-time!

Kiah’s new newsletter is called Fintech Takes Banking, and it’s exactly what it sounds like: the unapologetically nerdy side of banking, written with Kiah’s signature mix of curiosity, journalistic rigor, and humor. 

It’s launching this September, weekly, and you can sign up at: fintechtakes.com/banking/newsletter-subscription

Additionally, starting in October, Kiah will take over the Bank Nerd Corner podcast and turn it into a weekly show. She and I will still be podcasting on nerdy bank topics every month, but in addition to that, she will have a variety of other guests and co-hosts joining her to geek out in areas far beyond what we’ve been doing on the show to date. 

And speaking of the podcast, Kiah’s back just in time … because things in banking keep getting more interesting.

• The CFPB reversed course on open banking after Chase’s fee gambit sparked backlash from the fintech and crypto industries.
• Crypto firms are pursuing national trust bank charters.
• And Palmer Luckey’s Erebor is pitching itself as the next SVB. What’s the worst that could happen?

And read below for my three big ideas... 

The CFPB had just done something remarkable: it sided with the Bank Policy Institute’s lawsuit to vacate its own open banking rule, planning to scrap it entirely.

Then JPMorgan Chase dropped steep new pricing for accessing its open banking APIs, which landed with a thud in fintechland. But the real backlash came from an unexpected corner: crypto Twitter.

Tyler Winklevoss (of The Social Network fame, and also, I guess, Gemini) blasted the move publicly. This led, I would guess, to quite a few backroom conversations in and around the White House (where Winklevoss and other crypto executives wield a lot of influence). Days later, the CFPB pulled a hard 180, telling the court it wanted to pause the case and reopen rulemaking.

Chase’s timing made it look like a game of chicken with the Bureau. But they didn’t expect the counterpunch to come from Gemini’s co-founder … and for crypto to become the surprise swing vote in a fight that was supposed to be between banks and data aggregators.

Crypto voices are getting their objections heard faster than banks or fintech trade groups ever could. Banks and fintech companies should take that into consideration, moving forward.

🎬 DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY

As you’ll hear on the podcast, I had A TON of fun recording this podcast with Kiah, our first Bank Nerd Corner in many months. It was all I could do to keep the podcast to the length it ended up being. And we didn’t even get to the discussion I had planned on tokenized deposits! (Kiah successfully filibustered it this time, but I’ll corner her on it eventually!)

On the surface, a national trust bank charter is the most boring kind of bank charter: no lending, no insured deposits. You just custody assets for clients (think: family trusts, law firm escrow accounts, foundation endowments).

But if you squint, it’s the perfect framework for something newer: custodying the reserve assets that back regulated stablecoins. You hold the money in full reserve, get access to Fed payment rails (if you get a master account), and you skip the risky lending part entirely. That’s narrow banking in all but name.

The OCC’s already approved one (Anchorage) and has a queue of applicants like Fidelity Digital Assets, Ripple, and First National Digital Currency (Circle). 

Bank trade groups are now filing letters about “public scrutiny” and “fiduciary definitions” because, let’s be honest, they don’t want a new class of competitors with Fed master accounts and less regulatory scrutiny (trust banks have traditionally been less risky and therefore subject to less intense attention from regulators).

These charters were not designed for high-velocity, crypto-enabled payment businesses. Whether the Fed plays gatekeeper on master accounts will decide if this is a loophole or just a paper exercise.

The big question: if we allow entities that look and act like banks to operate without the lending function, are we undermining the fractional reserve banking system?

Palmer Luckey’s new bank, Erebor, isn’t going for a quirky national trust charter. They are trying to become a full-service national bank, supervised by the OCC.

The investor pitch reportedly includes a line about leveraging Palmer Luckey and others’ political connections to “expedite” their national bank charter with the OCC. 

Kiah’s take was an immediate no; this is the kind of inside thought you keep inside. She likened the impact of such public statements on regulators to a soccer referee being accused of favoritism: once the suspicion is out there, every call is questioned, and the ref’s credibility is significantly degraded.

The OCC’s process for evaluating bank charter applications isn’t a mere checklist. It’s a public “all clear” signal that you’ve been vetted to operate in the most regulated part of the financial services ecosystem. 

If the perception is that it can be fast-tracked through political pull, it’s not just the applicant’s reputation on the line. It chips away at the credibility of the system itself.

WHAT I'M LISTENING TO

This podcast from early August suddenly feels even more relevant and important!

Fun! Living in 2025 is fun!!

The entirety of Season 5 of Michael Lewis’s podcast — Against the Rules — is about sports betting. Here is episode 1. Worth a listen.

Acceptance keeps you in business. Issuance builds loyalty, unlocks revenue, and puts your brand at the center of your customers’ financial lives. Here’s why the leap matters.

*this rec is brought to you by one of our fantastic brand partners

WHERE I'LL BE

Big conferences are great for collecting swag (not so much for solving real problems). The Fintech Builders Summit is a small (~60), exclusive gathering built around a handful of well-researched deep dives on the toughest challenges in fintech, led by some of the most thoughtful and curious minds out there.

If you're ready for meaningful conversations (and real progress), apply here to join us.

And here are a few other places I’ll be in the meantime!

Put on by my friends at the Consumer Bankers Association. I look forward to learning more about a topic that fascinates me.

I’ll be giving a 7-minute presentation on a trend in financial services that banks and fintech companies should be thinking about. I’ve done this specific session before, and it’s more difficult than it sounds. Looking forward to the challenge!

I’ll be doing A LOT at this event, which is fortunate as I am OBSESSED with cash flow underwriting, as you have probably noticed!

One of my favorites. I never miss it. My panel this year should be a lot of fun!

Truly one of the most unique events I’ve ever attended. Looking forward to year 2!

Year 2 for this one as well. The first one was a lot of fun (plus, I’m digging all these conferences in my backyard … Silicon Slopes for the win!)

Thanks for the read! Let me know what you thought by replying back to this email. 

— Alex  

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