Wise plans new application for national trust bank charter under GENIUS Act

Wise Group, the London-listed fintech formerly known as TransferWise, is heading back to the drawing board after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency denied its application for a national trust bank charter on July 23, 2026. The company says it will resubmit under the framework created by the GENIUS Act, the federal stablecoin law signed just days before Wise originally filed its application last year. Investors were, predictably, not thrilled. Wise shares dropped as much as 11% on the news. What happened and why it matters Wise first submitted its charter application in June 2025, seeking to become a nationally chartered trust bank. For Wise, it would have meant direct access to US payment rails without relying on a patchwork of state-by-state licenses. The denial was tied to compliance concerns stemming from a multi-state consent order on anti-money laundering protocols that surfaced in July 2025. Wise processed over $240 billion in cross-border payment volume during FY2026, serving approximately 19 million customers. It already operates across 48 states and four territories. And it reported more than $3 billion in customer savings during the same fiscal year. The GENIUS...