As the pioneer of the bank-fintech partnership model, Cross River has long supported regulatory clarity that provides a transparent operating framework to support responsible innovation. Technology has proven to be invaluable in increasing access to modern financial services in historically underserved communities, and fintech is filling a crucial need for consumers looking to access safe financial products—a need that the traditional financial system is not meeting.

We appreciate that federal regulators, including the FDIC and OCC, are moving forward with this important and long sought unified guidance. By setting clear standards, the fintech industry can continue to grow in a responsible way, providing safeguards against predatory actors for all consumers.  

Over the last fifteen years, Cross River has been the leader in providing responsible financial products that both benefit and protect consumers, while striving to be the gold standard of regulatory compliance. We have been navigating through a patchwork of outdated standards and guidelines that are not always reflective of the current operations, services, and goals of modern financial services. This lack of unified, modern guidance has left banks and fintechs—and ultimately consumers—at risk.

This new guidance is a step in the right direction but there is still a long way to go to level the playing field and ensure we have clear and consistent standards across the fintech industry. We look forward to continuing to partner with regulators and Congressional leadership to implement these new standards and update the nation’s regulatory structure.

View the joint agencies’ news release: https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2023/nr-ia-2023-53.html