Block, the parent of Cash App and Square, said Tuesday it will establish Builders Bank & Trust if granted approval by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The move matters because it would place Block's custody and related fiduciary activities under a federal supervisory framework, a step that could reshape how the company handles digital assets and interacts with the broader banking system. Block is not alone: the OCC has signaled a more permissive stance toward fintech charters, and Block's application is the latest in a wave of similar efforts by payments and crypto firms.
The proposed bank would be uninsured and would not take deposits or make loans. Instead, Builders Bank would provide "custody and related fiduciary services, including for bitcoin and stablecoins," according to a company press release. Lee Woolley, Block's digital asset strategy lead and the former CEO of Treasury Department Federal Credit Union, would serve as the bank's president and CEO. Block said the charter would give it "a federal supervisory framework for certain custody and related activities" the company now offers. The company already has banking experience through Square Financial Services, which was established in Salt Lake City in 2021 after Block's Square point-of-sale business received an industrial loan company charter from Utah in 2020.
The evidence for this shift is corroborated across independent sources. Banking Dive and Payments Dive both reported the announcement, citing Block's press release and a company spokesperson who said Block is not sharing details on the bank's product offerings at this time. The regulatory context is also documented: in May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to "streamline" application processes for fintechs seeking bank charters and other access to "traditional financial services and payment systems." Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said last month that "America and the OCC are once again open for business," heralding the agency's pace of new bank charters.
The sector implications are significant. Last week, London-based fintech Revolut received conditional approval from the OCC to establish a national bank in the U.S. Other firms that have sought and gained OCC national trust bank charters include Circle, Ripple, Paxos, BitGo and World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency company associated with Trump's family. In February, Stripe's Bridge subsidiary received conditional OCC approval for its charter, allowing it to issue stablecoins, custody digital assets and manage reserves with OCC oversight. Affirm Holdings and PayPal Holdings have both sought bank charters to operate as industrial loan companies, from Nevada and Utah respectively, while Klarna Group filed for an industrial bank charter from Utah two months ago. Buy now, pay later provider Sezzle also intends to seek OCC permission to operate a national bank trust, abandoning a prior plan to pursue an industrial loan charter from Utah regulators.
Still, approval is not guaranteed. In July, the OCC denied the U.K.-based money transmitter Wise's national trust charter application, showing that the agency retains discretion even amid its more open posture. Block has not disclosed product details, timelines, or the specific regulatory conditions it may face. The uninsured, non-depository nature of the proposed bank also limits its direct impact on traditional banking, but the federal supervisory framework could still alter how Block's custody and fiduciary activities are overseen. What to watch next is whether the OCC grants conditional or final approval, and whether Block follows other fintechs in expanding its charter ambitions beyond custody.